"You're ready for them, Sam. You are."

"I am not."

"Have fun."

"You're enjoying this. I hate you, you know that? I really do."

"About as much as I've hated you in past moments?"

"You know, I've got to say, you've got this air about you today that is
so similar to the time that I -"

"You can get out now, Sam." Toby said, turning back to his computer
screen.

"You animal." Sam teased.

"I said get out." Toby retorted.

"Glad you're feeling better, Toby."

"Sam, I'm warning you."

"What it is exactly that you're feeling is more comp-"

"You have ten seconds, then I'm going to stand up and kill you."

"You know I'm just kidding. It's kind of like locker talk." Sam said with
a smile.

"Nine, eight." Toby counted off.

"You are kidding, right, Toby?" Sam said with a more serious look. Toby
stood up and unbuttoned his jacket.

"Seven, six." Toby continued calmly as he moved around his desk.

"Okay, I'm going to my own office now." Sam exclaimed before standing up
and darting out of the room. Toby smiled, buttoned his jacket and returned to
his seat to continue typing.

"Hey, Kody." Josh exclaimed as he walked up to KD in the hallway between
the communications bullpen and the Oval office. She smiled as she looked
through her papers.

"Hey there, Jolly." She replied. "How are you today?" She asked.

"I'm good. You know medical research is going to come up in the meeting
today." Josh reminded her. She nodded.

"I know. I'm gonna have what you need by the time the meeting starts."
She assured him.

"It starts in ten minutes." He retorted.

"Trust me here, Jolly." She replied with a laugh. He grinned sheepishly
and nodded as they turned into their bullpen. "I'm going to check with David
and then we can go to the damn meeting." She added as they separated. Josh
laughed and moved to his office, grabbing Donna by the elbow and pulling her
in. She smiled at him as he closed the door and pulled her into a warm
embrace.

"Hey, time to wake up." KD exclaimed as she whacked David on the head
gently with the papers in her hand. "Where's my report thingy?" She asked as
she handed the papers to him.

"Uh, right here." David replied as he took the papers and exchanged them
for a thin file which he handed her. "Your staff meeting is in eight minutes.
You have lunch scheduled with Mr. Ziegler. You're seeing congress-people
Shane and Adams with Toby at two today to talk about medical research. Right
now there's a lady in your office who insisted on seeing you." He added,
pointing to her office. She nodded, looking through the file he'd given her
and then smiled at him.

"Okay, then." She replied and looked back towards Josh's office where she
saw Josh approaching, slightly happier than before and Donna going to her
desk a slightly darker shade of red. "Jolly, I've just got to check in with a
visitor here and then we'll go, okay?" She announced. Josh nodded as she
moved into her office. KD stopped short as she saw a gray-haired woman
flipping through the pages of a recent report KD had read about the needs for
more funding to medical research. The woman seemed to be in her mid-sixties,
with dark brown eyes and a small mouth that seemed to hide in the creases of
her chin. KD stared at the woman for a second before the woman looked up and
smiled in recognition.

"Kathryn, dear. There you are." The woman exclaimed happily. KD opened
her mouth as if to say something and then closed it again, walking out of the
office and closing the door behind her.

"David, if you ever see that woman again, call security." KD exclaimed
before smiling at Josh and starting the walk towards Leo's office. Josh
frowned in confusion and followed her as KD's office door opened and the
woman emerged behind them. Josh hurried to catch up with his friend.

"Who was that?" He asked. KD shrugged.

"Hmm? No one." She replied as she ducked into Margaret's office. "Is he
in?" She asked. Margaret nodded.

"Kathryn Dylan Brody, don't you dare walk away from me like that again."
The woman declared as she entered the office. KD laughed.

"Me walk away from you? That's a riot. Margaret, could you call security
and have them escort this woman off grounds?" KD asked as she glanced at her
boss's assistant. Margaret nodded as she grabbed the phone, a similar look of
confusion on her face to the one that Josh wore.

"What's going on?" Leo asked as he leaned out of his office. KD turned to
reply but was interrupted.

"Leo McGarry! Oh, my God, it's been so long! You look great!" The woman
exclaimed, stepping towards him. Leo looked at her and backed away in disgust
before nodding to his assistant.

"Never mind." The chief of staff remarked. "Go ahead, Margaret." He
added. The woman pouted angrily.

"Now don't tell me you're encouraging her behavior? Honestly, Leo, I
thought we were all adults here." She snapped. KD moved past the woman into
Leo's office. Leo glanced at Josh and gestured for him to follow suit. Josh
did so, still very confused, and very curious.

"We are mature adults, Carolyn. You, however, do not fall into that
category." Leo retorted before stepping into his office and shutting the door
into the woman's face. Inside his office, Leo glanced at KD with a reassuring
yet weak smile. "You okay, kid?" He asked softly. She smiled back weakly and
nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, dad." She replied weakly.

"What's going on here?" Josh asked feebly. Leo waved his hand and
shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. It's been taken care of. Let's go to our meeting." He
replied and lead the way into the Oval Office. KD was quick on his heels and
so was Josh, but he was still not satisfied. As they moved into the room, he
stared at the back of Leo's head as if he could read the man's mind to get
the answer. KD sat down on the couch next to Toby, who subsequently put his
arm around her and pulled her a little closer while reading his agenda
absentmindedly. She smiled and looked at her own papers.

"It's about time you guys got here. What was the holdup?" Jed asked as he
saw the approach of his best friend. KD looked at him and then at Leo, an
almost desperate look on her face, a look that scared Toby a little bit.

"We had an unexpected, and unwelcome, visitor." Leo exclaimed.

"Who?" Jed asked as he looked down at his schedule. Leo sighed and
glanced at KD who nodded weakly.

"Carolyn Kent." The Chief of staff replied. Jed looked at Leo abruptly
and then at KD who glanced at him and then away. Toby pulled her a little
closer and stroked her arm gently.

"Who's Carolyn Kent?" Sam asked in his own innocent tone.

"I was wondering the same thing." Josh admitted. Jed paused and glanced
at Leo. KD snuggled further into Toby's side, much to everyone's attention.
It was obvious that the whole thing was making her uncomfortable.

"It doesn't matter for now. Let's just get this meeting started." The
President exclaimed as he moved to sit in one of the armchairs. CJ kept her
eyes on KD for a moment as the meeting began, more than a little worried.
Josh sat next to her, the same expression on his face.

"So, KD, what's the word on Medical research?" Leo asked loudly, bringing
both CJ and Josh's attentions back to the room. They smiled sheepishly and
listened as KD replied softly, slowly rebuilding her confidence.

To Be Continued...