He looked around his office and tried to think of what to do. He had no
meetings, no speeches to write. KD had been gone for six hours and he hadn't
heard from her. As far as he'd heard, no one had. He looked around
absentmindedly and then switched on the radio, for lack of something else to
do. He listened somberly as a new song began to play softly.

I lie awake and die, I try but can't deny
That I can't make it without her
I can't forget the day I let her slip away
And I'm still dreaming about her
Can a heart forgive cos I just can't live without her

Toby looked at the radio in interest. He realized that he was angry that
she'd left without talking to him, and he was also scared that she wouldn't
come back from this situation the same person, if she came back at all. Could
he survive without her?

The next time you see my girl
Won't you say that I, I would die I would die to hold her
The next time you see my girl
Won't you tell her I love her
The next time you see my girl

God, if he could just hold her again, breathe in her presence and know
that she was all right. If he could just tell her that he loved her, that he
wanted her to stay home where it was safe and stop putting other people ahead
of herself. Who was he going to talk to?

I walk the streets at night see lovers passing by
And it's all a reminder
Of what it used to be when she was here with me
I only wish I could find her
Did she disappear 'cos I'm waiting right here for her

Toby stood up and walked to his bookshelf. He poked through the few books
that he actually kept in the office and pulled out a small brown
leather-bound novel that KD had given him for his birthday. She had a
birthday coming up and he wanted to be sure that he could give her the
present he'd been waiting so long to give. How could he be sure?

The next time you see my girl
Won't you say that I, I would die I would die to hold her
The next time you see my girl
Won't you tell her I love her
The next time you see my girl

I close my eyes I see her face and realize
But in front of me I had it all but I set her free
So next time you see my girl
Won't you tell her that I'm sorry
Tell her that I love her

Toby moved over and switched off the radio. She would be there. If KD had
taught him anything, it was that there was such thing as resilience. She
would not give up. If he were going to place a bet on the outcome of this
event in their lives, KD was going to run back to his arms any moment now and
Terrence Faraday was going to go home in a coffin. He grabbed his coat and
put it on. Stuffing the book into his briefcase with a few papers, he grabbed
his keys and walked out of the office, heading home before anyone could stop
him. No one would have anyway. He was sure of it. Then he stopped in the
hallway. Looking around, he sighed and turned back. He'd rather be in his
office than home alone, in an empty apartment with nothing but the infernal
ticking of a clock to keep him company.


Josh watched absentmindedly as he tapped his pencil on the pad of legal
paper in front of him. There was a rhythmic thudding that filled the room.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, thud, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap -

"Josh, please stop that?" Donna pleaded. Josh looked up and then tossed
the pencil away from him.

"Yeah, sorry." He murmured. Donna sighed and closed the door.

"She's gonna be okay, Josh. She's gotten through worse." She assured him
as she sat in one of his chairs.

"You know, it's funny how fate works." Josh murmured. "I mean, God gave
KD two dysfunctional parents and she turned out great. God took my sister
away from me when I was just a little kid, and I'm okay. Then God brought KD
and me together, and it's like we've always been siblings. I'm the brother
she never had and she's the sister I lost, even if she's younger rather than
older. Now whatever God is, He's threatening to take that away."

"I wouldn't even say he's threatening. When she was shot at the EPA
confirmation, that was a threat, Josh. But this she can handle. This we can
handle." Donna assured him. Josh looked at her and smiled before standing up
and taking a seat opposite her.

"You're so good for me, Donna." He whispered as he took her hands in his
own. She smiled and squeezed his fingers gently.

"It's about time you realized it." She retorted softly.

"I'm glad you never worked for the FBI. I'm never going to have to worry
about you in a situation like this, am I?" He asked gingerly.

"I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you." She replied very
seriously before standing up and walking out of the office. Josh frowned and
stood up, looking after her.

"Um, Donna -" He started but was interrupted by his phone. He grabbed the
receiver eagerly. "Leo. Hi. No, I'm not disappoint . . . You have? Oh, wow.
Yeah. I . . . Did you talk to Toby? Yeah, I'll be right there." Josh said
before hanging up. Donna met him at the doorway as he moved to put on his
jacket. "KD went into the warehouse."

"And?" Donna asked in worry.

"And we haven't heard anything since." Josh replied before turning down a
hallway and disappearing towards the Oval office.


KD glanced about the room, testing all her senses to the limit. The smell
was dank and musty, meaning the warehouse, no matter how many visitors it
got, was still not kept very well. It was dark, the windows having been
painted out save the few that had been broken. She was obviously in the
non-public part of the tourist attraction, although it struck her as strange
that people would want to visit an old steel factory during their vacation to
Michigan, of all places, anyway. The place hadn't been used in nearly forty
years and yet here it was, earning about 3% of Detroit's annual revenue. Big
whoop.

"Stop right there." Terrence's voice rang out. His dark tone echoed
across the vacant walls, reminding KD eerily of the day that she'd last seen
this toad. He was lucky he was still alive after that day. The courts had
demanded of her to stay away from the trial, which she did, and took her
testimony on tape instead. Terrence was supposed to be done with, and yet
here she was, standing in a barren warehouse, fighting for the lives of 17
civilians.

"Where am I gonna go, Tennessee?" She retorted as she looked for him.
There he was, standing ahead of her and to her left with a shotgun in his
proud hands.

"You unarmed?" He called.

"No." She replied honestly.

"Didn't think so. Nice vest." He exclaimed as he took a few steps towards
her.

"Thanks. Standard issue. Where are they, Faraday?" KD called, her hands
where he could see them.

"They're close by. I wouldn't try anything if I were you. I've had time
to rig a pretty nice set-up." He cackled.

"And we all know how intelligent you are, Faraday." KD returned dryly.
"What do you want?"

"I want ten million dollars, cash, and a helicopter in front of the
warehouse in five hours. Don't give me that shit about needing more time,
I've seen enough of those movies to know for a fact it's just a stall. Five
hours." Terrence demanded, his hands clamped around the shotgun. "And you,
Brody, are to come in to talk to me once an hour. Every sixty minutes,
exactly, you will come right back here and tell me personally what your
progress is."

"Five hours, huh? I'll see what I can do. We don't exactly have that sort
of cash lying around-" She mentioned.

"I said, don't say you need more time!" Terrence snapped and raised the
barrel. KD kept her hands level.

"I said nothing about time, Terrence! I said cash, not time. Don't worry
about it. I'll do what I can do. You just keep your cool in here, okay?" She
retorted quickly. Terrence lowered the barrel and nodded.

"Get out of here, Brody." He ordered. She nodded and quickly moved
outside to tell the others what the much-debated demands were.

"Can he fly a helicopter?" Max wondered aloud.

"Yeah, he learned when he was six." KD muttered.

"This guy seems almost obsessed with you, Rock." A random agent noted.

"Criminals tend to get obsessed with the people who put them away." KD
returned absentmindedly.

"Especially if the person nearly killed them in the process." Max added.

"Shut up, Erickson." She retorted.

"Whatever." Max muttered. "Let's get on it. See what we can do, and
Rocky, you'll see how we can do on time. Let's get to work."

"Taking charge as usual." KD mumbled before moving to check the clock.

"Shut up, Brody." Max retorted.


It was a quiet evening. One of those evenings that are so quiet, so
serene, that one can just tell such an evening has followed a long hard day.
The west wing was quiet as the clock struck seven. The senior members of the
White House's primary staff each had their lives that seem to continue,
whether the stress of not knowing got to them or not.

CJ was gone, having dinner with Danny as they talked quietly on her
couch, trying to ignore the many questions that were running through their
heads. Was KD going to be okay? Were they anything more than a fling? Was
Danny really serious about a relationship? Was CJ really serious? What kind
of sauce was used on the chicken chop suey?

Josh leaned back into his couch, a report leaning against his knees as he
tried desperately to continue his attempts in ignoring KD's predicament that
he felt so strongly was his too. Donna leaned in the door, spoke to him
softly and soon he agreed to go to dinner with her. The two walked out of the
west wing to his car and talked softly as he drove to the apartment that
they'd shared for the past two months. As they stepped inside, Donna looked
around the apartment in surprise to see it clean. Josh smiled and admitted to
having called a cleaning service after listening to her whine about what a
pig he was. The cat came to greet them, secretly only intending to herd them
towards the kitchen where his food dish waited, but got quite a few pets and
scratches in the meantime.

Sam stared at his speech, trying to figure out what was wrong with it.
He'd read it and reread it several times, and each time it'd sounded so
wrong, and yet he couldn't figure out why. He just felt preoccupied, so it
didn't matter if the speech was "See Spot run" or an extensive report on the
comparison between a grape and a watermelon. He wasn't even sure if it wasn't
that indeed, but he pretended to concentrate on it anyway. He put his feet up
on the desk and tried to think. KD was going to be fine. So he didn't have to
worry about Toby. He was worried anyway. Sam and KD never did get very close,
but KD was the woman Toby loved, so Sam thought she was great, and he
definitely wanted her to be okay. He wanted Toby to be happy. He shook off
the feelings he had inside and tried once again to look at the speech that
meant absolutely nothing at all to him. Where did it say grapes?

Jed sat down on the couch in his room and glanced at the clock. He
squeezed his fingers together nervously and glanced around. Abbey came and
sat next to him with a reassuring smile. He took her in his arms and held her
close. They talked softly as the night went on. She tried desperately to
assure him that it was not his fault. He tried to believe her.

Leo stared at the phone, trying to make himself believe that if he stared
at it long enough it would ring and KD would be on the other line, calling
him dad again and telling him that everything was all right. If he believed,
he could make it happen, right? The phone rang. Leo nearly jumped out of his
skin and grabbed the receiver.

"Leo McGarry." He exclaimed hesitantly.

"Mr. McGarry, this Max Erickson in Detroit. Just called to tell you, sir,
we're going in." A male voice said through the line.

"Going in? Why?" Leo asked urgently.

"Gunfire reported, sir. Agent Brody is still in there." Max replied.
"We'll call you when it's over." The line went dead. Leo stared at his
receiver blankly, the severity of the news sinking in. He swallowed
carefully, hung up the phone, then pulled it back and began to dial.

To Be Continued . . . .