"Abbey, you in here?" Jed exclaimed as he stepped into the large bedroom that
was their residence in the big white house of Washington, D.C. Leo had run
off to arrange a schedule of events. The press conference was in an hour and
a half, and life in the White House was speedily going on.

"Yeah, I'll be right out." Abbey Bartlet replied in a huff. "God, Jed, what
could possibly be so imp-" The first lady exclaimed as she stepped out into
view of KD Brody. "My God. Is it a ghost from the past? K.D?"

"Hey, there, Abbey. What's new?" KD replied with a grin as Mrs. Bartlet moved
forward to hug the younger woman. With a laugh, she hugged back and then
stepped away, grinning like a fool.

"What's new, she asks. God, where have you been? When Jed made it to the Oval
Office, I figured you'd be the first one banging down the door." Abbey
exclaimed playfully. KD chuckled.

"Gee, thanks." She retorted. Jed chuckled.

"Maybe I should just sneak out the back door and leave you two alone." He
proclaimed. The two women laughed.

"Oh, poor leader of the free world. You feeling ignored?" KD teased. They all
laughed and Jed slipped an arm around Abbey's waist.

"Absolutely." He retorted playfully.

"Well, if you want to remedy that, go streak for the press." KD retorted just
as quickly. Jed pretended to consider it, getting a loving smack on his
stomach from his wife.

"How long have you been in town, kid? God, I thought about you so many times
on the road." Abbey exclaimed, letting the memories flood back to her. KD
shrugged, leaning against an armchair and gazing at the happy, powerful
couple with a friendly smirk.

"I've been around. After I graduated from Med, I went down to California. I
hung around there doing some basic ER stuff, no big deal. But after about
three years, I got bored, so I got a job as a political advisor with Senator
Matthews from Montana, well, you know that, right?" She exclaimed. Jed and
Abbey both nodded. "He lost the re-election three years later, so I enrolled
in the FBI academy and graduated two days before my 32nd birthday. Been doing
that for about three years, but they recently gave me "indefinite leave" so
I'm currently unemployed." KD concluded, flexing her fingers.

"Mathis just made life very hard for Toby and Leo, so she's going to stick
around for awhile and help us prepare for the works bill plight." Jed added
to the story. Abbey flashed him a small look and nodded with a smile. Jed
caught the look, but KD did not.

"So now I'm a temporary political advisor for the President. How's that for a
step up?" KD exclaimed.

"Congratulations. Hey, listen. Tomorrow we're throwing a sort of dinner
party. You should come. We're using it for an excuse for some political, heh,
schmoozing. If you're going to stay in Washington for a while, you need to
get some done; Ya know, make a name for yourself." Abbey exclaimed, placing a
friendly hand on KD's shoulder. KD chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, sounds great. I'll get out my dress jeans." She retorted
sarcastically. Abbey frowned.

"Uh, honey, KD doesn't really, um, have . . ." Jed started.

"A place to live. After my dismissal from the Bureau, I started doing some
nomadic traveling, so I sold my apartment. I've been staying in the park for
a while, plus there's a nice hotel that I can afford down the-" KD tried to
be diplomatically diverting.

"You're on the streets, sweetie?" Abbey asked with a very concerned
expression. KD sighed and nodded subtly.

"I got a room ready for her. She won't stay here unless she has your
permission." Jed chimed in.

"Of course, she can stay here. KD, of course you can. But you have to promise
me you're going to find a place. You deserve so much more, and you're capable
of it too." Abbey insisted. KD nodded.

"When I'm done doing what Jed needs me to do, I promise, I'll be out of here,
eking a living again. You have my word." KD exclaimed, shoving her hands into
her jeans pockets and grinning.

"And in the meantime, I'll find something for you to wear to the dinner. I'm
sure that I have something that hasn't fit me since I was twelve in my closet
somewhere." Abbey exclaimed. KD laughed.

"I'm not that-" She started.

"Believe me, honey, you're THAT." Abbey interrupted with a grin.

"Toby? There's a Miss Brody here to see you." Ginger exclaimed into the
phone, eyeing the visitor carefully. On the other end, she heard some light
cursing and then the gruff go ahead. "Go on in, ma'am." The young assistant
said as she slipped the phone back into the holster. KD nodded and moved for
the door. Ginger raised an eyebrow, noticing the slight swagger of this other
woman, and then returned to work.

"Hey there, Toby. You busy?" KD asked as she closed the door behind her. Toby
glanced at her then back at his computer screen.

"I would appreciate it if you addressed me as Mr. Ziegler seeing as how I
don't know you very well, and yes, I'm very busy. What is it?" He retorted
harshly.

"Jed wanted me to check up on the update for the Works bill statement. He
sent me down to look at your references, and maybe help deal with the direct
retorts to Mathis." KD replied, un-phased by his severity.

"I can handle it myself, thank you." Toby proclaimed without looking at her.
She slapped her sides and nodded.

"Suit yourself. See ya around." She replied and walked out of the door. A
few moments later, Sam walked into the room without going through Ginger.
Toby tried not to groan as the younger man strode in.

"Now what?" He snapped.

"I came to see how the revision was going and if you needed any help." Sam
replied defensively.

"Why does everyone think I need help? I am perfectly capable of doing my job
without a bunch of little snots running in and offering their "help" as if
I'd broken my hip and can't get up." Toby growled.

"Mathis gave us a lot to work with. You now have less than thirty minutes to
revise a statement that you've been working rather hard on. If I were you,
I'd be really pissed at Mathis right now." Sam said slowly. "Not me, or
anybody else who was trying to help."

"Well, maybe I don't need to feel like I'm being undermined no matter where I
go. I did get this job on my own merits, without any help from you or Brody
or even Jed Bartlet." Toby exclaimed, his face turning red with frustration
and anger.

"What, did you say Brody? Did KD come in here?" Sam asked, his attention
grabbed.

"She's KD now? What, she's been here an hour, and she's one of the gang?"
Toby retorted.

"Actually, she's been around almost two hours, and she's been helping me
quite a bit with the industry prep. Ever since Mathis went on air, the pace
has picked up about two hundred percent around here." Sam replied as he poked
into some of the files on Toby's desk.

"Yeah, whatever. Don't touch that." Toby exclaimed as he tapped Sam's hand
with a pen. Sam smiled and nodded.

"If you don't need any help, then I'm gonna get out of here. You know CJ goes
on air in twenty minutes?" Sam asked as he grabbed the door to leave. Toby
nodded and hit another random key on the computer.

"Of course I do. What was it you said about getting out of here?" He retorted
gruffly. Sam nodded.

"Going and gone." He assured and then disappeared behind the brown door. Toby
rolled his eyes and hit save. Grabbing the few sheets of paper that spewed
out of the printer, he stood up and moved out of the room, hurrying towards
the oval office one more time.

"When were you going to tell me that she was here?" Abbey asked softly as she
handed her husband his good red tie. He took it graciously, wrapped it around
his neck and began to fiddle with the knot. She stepped forward and started
to help him with it.

"You're not going to strangle me with that, are you?" He joked softly. She
returned with a humorously evil glare. He smiled. "She only just got here
about two hours ago. I told you as soon as I could." He replied as he
inspected the carefully well-done tie knot she'd created.

"How long is she going to stay?" Abbey asked gently.

"I don't know, honestly. A week, maybe more. At least until she finds her own
place, which she has promised me she's going to do sometime soon." Jed
replied as he searched for his coat. Abbey handed it to him with a weak grin.
He took it and kissed her gently.

"Is this going to be a problem? Having her in such close proximity?" Abbey
exclaimed seriously after returning the kiss.

"Whatever mistakes I made eight years ago, we should remember that not only
were we separated at the time, but also that I was drunk as a skunk, and she
flat out refused me. By the time I was sober, I had realized what a mistake I
had made and I told you everything. I apologized to KD and to you, and in the
long run, you and I are still together, always will be. In fact, I'm feeling
quite amorous right this minute." He added with a playful grin as he kissed
her neck. Abbey smiled, somewhat reassured, but not too much.

"I'm sure you are, but there's still a job for you to do out there." She
replied, tracing her fingers through his hair and kissing him gently. He
grinned and kissed her again, and again. She giggled and hugged him. He
hugged her back and kissed her neck again.

"This isn't a problem, is it?" He asked softly. She sighed and hugged him
closer.

"No, of course not. I love KD, and so does everyone else." She replied and
leaned back to look him in the eye. He smiled his own special brand of smile
and hugged her again, kissing her neck once more. She giggled and pushed him
away, smiling lovingly.

"All right you, get back out there before you really start wanting to get
serious." She teased as she began to push him towards the door. He smiled and
playfully began to get frisky. She giggled some more and managed to get him
out the door. On the other end, Jed grinned and then turned to walk to the
Oval office, hearing the secret service whisper out and about.

"Hey, looks like someone forgot to take out the trash." Danny Canconnon
exclaimed as he stopped in front of the table where KD was perusing the
folder that Leo had gone to retrieve when he'd met her. The POTUS had asked
her to look it over and put it into Standard English.

"Not only that, they forgot to call animal control, cause we got a stray dog
in here. Oh, wait, it's you!" KD replied, looking up and grinning. With a
laugh, she stood up and hugged her old friend hello. Beyond the entrance to
the pressroom, CJ raised an eyebrow and then returned to her own conversation.

"What in blazes are you doing at my desk?" Danny asked with a grin. KD
glanced at the desk, grabbed the folder and moved away.

"Didn't know it was yours. Waiting for that press conference thing to start.
I've been asked to watch, don't ask me why." She replied innocently. Danny
chuckled and grabbed his notebook.

"Got it. Sure. What are you doing in the white house, anyway? You're not
going back to reporting, are you?" He asked. KD shook her head.

"You kidding? That was just a timesaver. No, I'm here visiting old friends."
She replied.

"Jed and Leo?" Danny confirmed all-knowingly. KD nodded.

"Yeah, and quite possibly a certain reporter. Still got that press license
somewhere though." She added playfully. "So don't quit running for the hills
yet." Danny chuckled.

"Did you ever finish paying off those bills? I know that's the only reason
why you took the press job in the first place." He retorted as he sat next to
her on the edge of the desk.

"First of all, I took that damn press job to pay off student loans while I
studied in med school, not to pay off bills. There is a difference. Second of
all, I finished paying those years ago before I graduated from the academy."
She replied, playfully wagging a finger at him. He nodded with a grin and
tapped her on the head with his notebook.

"Okay, okay, I got it. Want me to print a retraction?" He joked. She nodded
enthusiastically and grinned.

"Absolutely. Come on. I assume you're here for the press conference too?" She
exclaimed and started to lead the way to the pressroom. Danny nodded and
tagged along by her side.

"What do you know about everything that's happening in here? How'd they
respond to Mathis?" He whispered in her ear. She shrugged and found a seat
with a good view. Danny sat down next to her.

"I don't know. Let's see what CJ has to say about that." She replied in her
own whisper. Danny grinned and looked forward as CJ walked to the podium and
placed her papers on it.

"Good afternoon. Trust you're all busy today, so I'll just get down to this.
The agenda today is covering the Works Bill and Senator Mathis's statement
about the White House's stance on the aforementioned bill." CJ started,
speaking in her clear professional voice.

"Ooh, aforementioned. Good word." KD murmured. Danny chuckled as he wrote
quickly.

"Also, I'll be discussing the president's plans to deal with the forthcoming
schedule of legislatures that will be approaching the floor over the next
eight months." CJ continued. "If you're interested in any of that. I have a
funny feeling you're more interested in the works bill layout." She added,
gaining chuckles from the entirety of her live audience.

"Roughly one hour and fifty seven minutes ago, Senator Thomas Mathis from
Arizona went public with a statement regarding bill four twenty-eight,
otherwise known as the Works and employments bill, saying that it is 'the
responsibility of the White house to allow this bill to pass into law for the
sake of a better nation. Any act by the Bartlet administration to do
otherwise is unjustified and therefore must be of a personal, and perhaps
selfish, nature.' To put it simply, the white house feels that it will not be
bullied by the Senator's comments, and we will release our statement for the
bill as planned, with no change as a consequence of Senator Mathis's
proclamation."

"So does that mean that the president will be vetoing the bill?" A reporter
asked. CJ sighed.

"It means that the President will release his statement in approximately
twenty minutes, a little later than scheduled, but still it will come when it
comes." She replied.

"How did the President react to Senator Mathis's comment?" Someone else asked.

"I personally was not there, but I do understand that he was somewhat
confused by the senator's actions, which goes for most of us here in the
White house as well." CJ replied and pointed to another reporter that had his
hand up. He was the first one not to shout out.

"How has this change in events affected the President's schedule?" He asked.
CJ nodded, ready for that question.

"A few things will have to be rescheduled for it is felt that more attention
will have to be diverted in order to make sure that the bill falls through as
we hope for it too." CJ replied. The reporters scribbled down her every word.

"What's next on the President's agenda?" Danny asked.

"Next on the president's agenda will be a focus on gun control legislature,
as he promised in his campaign. With some recent events clouding up the
calendar, the president feels that this is a good venue to go down." CJ
replied in a very professional tone.

"What does the president plan to do about the human rights violations
currently occurring in China where peaceful rioters are, at this moment,
being arrested and slaughtered in the streets? When does he plan to put that
on his agenda?" A strong, worried voice called out. All eyes fell on KD as
she stared at CJ expectantly.

"Uh, well, um. . ." CJ started, caught off guard.

"Well, one would think that the urgency of these events would push its rank
up on the schedule, no?" KD continued. Some people began to murmur as they
wrote down the question.

"Miss Brody, I was informed that you were here as an observer. I don't
believe you have a press license." CJ replied, trying to save her neck. KD
pulled out her wallet and revealed the press license she still retained after
all the years since she'd stop writing.

"Even if I didn't have this card, the question still has its merit. Gun
control is all well and good, when fifteen people die per day here in America
thanks to accidents involving automatic handguns, but when nearly two hundred
people die in three hours while making a fair and honest protest against
their government's cruel abuse of power, isn't that a little more important
to the President and his administration?" KD exclaimed, her blood pressure
rising slightly.

Across the white house, staffers were dropping their jaws while others were
cursing and hurrying away to their desks. Ginger heard her boss literally
kick a chair and send some random stuff crashing to the ground. He barged out
of the door, growled something inaudible to her as he rushed past and headed
straight for the Oval office.

"I do not have any information on that at this time." CJ replied honestly,
feeling a little stunned. "That's it I have for now. Good afternoon." She
added, grabbing her papers and moving out of the room. Reporters stood up to
shout last minute questions they knew she wouldn't answer, and as soon as she
was gone, they turned to KD to ask her their questions. She waved them away
and moved with Danny into another room.

"She had no place to do that!" Toby shouted, moving to kick the President's
desk.

"You are not kicking that desk unless you want to fork out the hundreds of
thousands of dollars and two hundred years of history that it would take to
replace and repair it, Ziegler." Jed proclaimed harshly. Toby stopped
mid-kick and turned on his heel into a sort of spin. Sam, Josh and Leo moved
into the room just in time to catch the mini dancing act, and immediately
began to clap sarcastically.

"Shut up! What are you going to do about her? She had no right to do that.
She's supposed to be on our side, for Christ's sake." Toby snapped. Jed
glanced at Leo, who merely shrugged.

"Where is she now?" Josh asked, somewhat frustrated for the situation, but
pleased the anger was now focused at someone else, someone other than him.
Sam raised an index finger.

"Word has it she left the room with Danny Canconnon, and then parted from him
to head in this direction. Secret service last said that she's about two
minutes from this room." He exclaimed.

"What's she doing with Danny?" Josh asked.

"I dunno." Sam replied.

"She's gonna need secret service, because I swear I'm gonna kill her." Toby
muttered loudly.

"Well, strong emotions like that are usually a good sign that I have a great
deal of influence in this office." KD exclaimed as she moved in the door. At
the same time, across the other end, CJ moved in with a worried expression.

"What did you do to me out there?" She asked, looking at KD with a hurt
expression. KD sighed.

"It was a valid question that I wanted answered. There are plenty of people
out there who want an answer to that question. Next time, maybe you should be
better prepared." She retorted.

"Better prepared? Better prepared?" Toby repeated angrily. KD turned her gaze
to him and nodded.

"That's right. The riots have been going on for nearly four days. It's only
today that the death count is starting to drop off. I know for a fact that a
large percentage of Americans have expressed an interest in knowing how the
President is going to respond to this." She exclaimed sharply.

"Couldn't you have asked us in private? Maybe NOT have gone on live TV and
asked when we weren't prepared?" Sam asked just as sharply. KD sighed and sat
down on one of the couches.

"Yeah, maybe I could have. Or maybe you could have been prepared. You've had
the time. My question never got answered anyway. What are you going to do
about it?" She asked.

"No, don't change the subject." Toby interrupted, stepping forward to a
stance right in front of her. "You do not, I repeat, do not do that ever
again. If you're going to be working here now, you have to work on our side
here. Your question may have been valid, but you had no place bringing it up
in that press conference."

"Technically, I do not, I repeat, do not," She mimicked. "Work here. I'm not
on any payroll, and I have no incentive to stay except that an old friend of
mine asked me to stick around as a sort of political advisor while he needed
me. Moreover, I do not, repeating, do not take orders from you, Mr. Ziegler."
KD retorted. Toby stared at her a minute.

"Do you have your affairs in order? Because I swear, you're gonna be dead
when I'm through with your mangled little body." He snapped.

"Ziegler. Back off." Leo snapped loudly. Toby half-turned to look at the
gruff looking chief of staff.

"Leo -" He started.

"Back. Off. Over there, now. We're going to discuss this rationally." Leo
snapped again. Toby sighed and did as he was told. There was a very awkward
silence in the oval office as the staffers glanced at each other. No one
dared look at Toby who was still steaming, almost visibly.

"KD, you really shouldn't have done that." Jed said softly, breaking the
silence. KD paused, and then nodded apologetically.

"I suppose I still have some things to learn about self-control." She replied
in an almost-whisper.

"Toby, you will not be killing anyone today, or any other day." Jed said
softly, glancing at his fuming communications director. Toby sighed and
looked at his feet before nodding.

"Yes, sir." He said simply.

"Now that the issue is out here, we'll deal with it. KD is going to promise
not to do this again, and we're going to cope. She asked a perfectly good
question, and we will not forget that fact." Leo exclaimed softly. Everyone
nodded. It began to appear as if Jed and Leo were two parents trying to calm
down a set of active children.

"I do promise. And I apologize." KD said softly.

"Great. Everyone get out. I need to talk to KD" Jed exclaimed. KD looked up
with guilty puppy dog brown eyes. Everyone slowly moved towards the doors,
still glancing at each other awkwardly.

"Mr. President, you do have a day to finish." Charlie exclaimed as he leaned
into the room. Jed nodded and glanced at KD.

"Very well then. I'm going to go finish everything I need to do. You do not
leave this room. I don't care if you take a nap or hang yourself or
whatever," He said with a playful smile. "You stay in here."

"Understood, sir." KD replied with a weak smile.

"Okay, didn't I say everyone out?" Jed exclaimed and began to shoo everyone
out. KD sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She noticed Toby giving
her an angry look as he stepped out of the room with Sam right behind him.
She sighed and leaned back into the couch, frustrated.

"Are you still working on that thing?" Jed asked as he walked into the large
room known as the Oval office. Without looking up from the thin folder, KD
nodded absentmindedly.

"You asked. I'll stop when I'm done." She replied as she turned a page and
snuggled herself back into the couch. Jed sighed and picked up her feet so
that he could sit down, and then laid her feet across her lap.

"You wanna take a break for a second, kid?" He said softly, not looking at
her. She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. Closing the folder, she tossed it
on to the table and moved to snuggle into his shoulder, as a daughter would
her father. He smiled and put an arm around her, resting his chin on her
head.

"What's wrong, Joss?" She asked, utilizing the nickname she'd given him when
she was a teen, a nickname that he allowed only her to use. He sighed again
and tried to find the right words.

"You're not wasting your life, are you, kid?" He asked as diplomatically as
he could. KD frowned, sat up and leaned back to look at him, a confused look
on her face.

"What do you mean, wasting my life?" She asked softly. He stared at her with
a stern paternal gaze.

"You're almost 35 years old and you're unemployed. You have two advanced
degrees, and yet you have no place to live. Katy, what are you doing with
your life?" He exclaimed slowly. She sighed, slightly annoyed by his
patronizing manner.

"I'm between jobs, and I don't need a place to live because I'm always on the
move. One minute I'm in DC, the next I may be in Toronto. I never know." She
replied, starting to fidget with her hands. He rested his hands on hers to
help her stop, to make sure she stayed calm.

"That's another thing. You have no stability. You're just a nomad, when you
could be so much more." He exclaimed softly, gazing into her eyes. She
returned the gaze almost bitterly and bit her lip gently.

"Well, we can't all be the President of the United States." She retorted
softly, trying to deal with the surprising onslaught of lecturing from her
good friend.

"Please don't get angry, kid. I'm just worried about you, about your future.
You're capable of so much. Just look at all the stuff you did in this office
today alone. You've got my whole staff running around in circles." He replied
gently. She nodded and shrugged, trying not to reveal how upset she really
was. He sighed and hugged her. She took the hug at first and then pulled
away, standing up and beginning to pace the large regal office. Bartlet just
rose to his feet and watched her very carefully.

"I'm not angry. I'm really not. In fact, I'm happy with how my life is right
now." She replied, not enabling him eye contact. He sighed and walked back
behind his desk.

"I don't see how you could be. With an intellect like yours, I would think
that such a life would be quite . . . uh . . . I don't know, unsatisfying, I
guess." He exclaimed as he rifled through some of the papers on his desk. She
paused and stared at a random spot on the wall.

"I've done plenty of things with my life." She proclaimed softly.

"Have you? Have you really?" He retorted, his tone of voice growing slightly
harsher.

"I may not have an acronym for a title, but I've explored many fields. Maybe
I don't know any stability, but I am constantly occupied." She retorted
sharply, turning to look at him directly. He looked right back at her.

"You said before that you're happy with your life. Tell me truly, do you have
any regrets?" He asked sharply. She sighed and ran the tip of her toe around
the edge of the large presidential seal on the floor. He could tell she was
thinking, and to him that meant only one thing.

"If you have to think about it . . ." he said rhetorically.

"I'm not Zoey nor am I Liz. You're not my father." She said softly.

"No, but your father's dead, now isn't he?" Jed retorted quickly and sharply.

She stopped and stared at him with wide, hurt eyes, her face suddenly pale.
He gulped and looked down. A moment passed as she opened her mouth to
respond, but her throat had closed up and no sound could escape. She just
stared at him with very wide, very hurt eyes that were on the verge of
crying. He sighed and looked up at her again.

"I'm sorry. But do you really want to end up like him?" He added after a
pause, speaking much more softly this time around.

"I . . . " She almost replied but then closed her mouth. "I have to go. I
have an appointment to go to." She finally said and moved to grab the folder
and her jacket. Jed tried to move towards her but she was in escape mode,
moving faster than normal.

"You can't always run away, Katy. Don't run away now. Let me help you." He
exclaimed as she reached the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob but
still hesitated.

"If you want to help me, try doing it without insulting the memory of my
father." She snapped before pulling the door open and disappearing out behind
it. Jed sighed, frustrated, walked behind his desk and sat down in his chair.
He glanced at the clock and noted that it was eleven p.m. He knew very well
that she didn't have any appointment to go to, but there was nothing more he
could do. He had tried. Now it was time to go to bed, which he did, promptly.

To Be Continued . . . .