Toby sighed with delight and eased back into the comfy black leather couch
he'd allowed himself to buy a few months before. With all the work he needed
to get done, he needed a break. Tipping the warm glass mug to his lips, he
closed his eyes and let the hot toddy caress his taste buds.

"This can't be legal." He murmured as the warm liquid eased down his throat,
warming his chest and relaxing his extremely tense muscles. The lights were
down low and the phone had finally stopped ringing. It was 11:30 at night,
and he still had more work to do. Enjoying his break while it lasted, Toby
snuggled into the couch. But, as all good things must come to an end, a soft,
yet urgent, knock at the front door erupted through the silence. With a soft
grunt, he stood up, placed the glass on a coaster on the table and then
walked to the door, opening it to reveal a sight that was a shock to his
system.

"What are you doing here?" He snapped, almost bitterly. KD winced and sighed,
looking at her feet.

"To be honest, I don't know." She replied tentatively. He stood back a bit.

"In that case, good night." He exclaimed as he started to close the door in
her face.

"Mr. Ziegler." She exclaimed, causing him to stop the action. She sighed as
he stared at her.

"Yes?" He asked, getting impatient. She was evidently searching for the right
words.

"I know that . . . I know that you don't like me. You probably don't trust me
either . . . but if it means anything to you, I have . . . just had an
upsetting evening and I don't want to be alone . . . And strangely enough . .
. you're the only person I really trust; maybe because you don't like me . .
. You know I don't have a place to live, and I can't go back to the with
house . . . not now . . . so I was wondering, if just for tonight, I could
just sit on your couch or the floor of your kitchen and just . . . just feel
safer than I have in months . . . I understand if you say no but -" Her plea
was interrupted by his suddenly softer voice.

"If I said no, I'd be the bad guy." He murmured.

"Of course not. No one would even know I came here." She assured him
half-heartedly, sure that he meant to close the door.

"I would." He retorted. With a sigh, he stepped back and opened the door a
little wider. "Come on in." He exclaimed. She smiled weakly and stepped into
his warm home.

"Thank you." Was all she would venture to say. He nodded, already moving
away, and removed his mug from the table.

"I'm going to work some more and then I'm going to sleep. Make yourself
comfortable." He said before walking out of the room. KD sat down on the warm
leather couch and leaned back, reviewing the scene with Bartlet in her mind.
She sighed and fished out the folder, trying to find something else to
concentrate on.

Toby began to type slowly on his black iBook, cautiously glancing back
through the doorway that led to the hallway that opened into the room where
KD was. With a sigh, he stood up and leaned out of his office, which was also
his bedroom, strangely enough, and into the hallway. He heard some papers
rustling and a painful sigh. Slowly and quietly, he walked back down the
hallway and peered out into the living room. KD was leaned over the thin
executive folder, her fingers clasping her hair and her shoulders resignedly
drooped. He watched her for a moment and jumped when she sobbed and threw the
folder aside in a fit of emotion. Toby frowned as he watched her sink her
head into her lap with her arms crossed over her neck.

Slowly, he moved into the room and across the wooden floor to the small
stereo system that was in the room. Because she had her head down, she didn't
notice him as he quietly placed a CD into the player. She looked up as soft
upbeat music suddenly began to play. He turned and slowly play danced towards
her and held out his inviting hand. She laughed, blinking watery eyes, and
took it. He pulled her up and they began to dance.

They had fun too. For nearly an hour, the two of them moved together to
different kinds of music. For one night, they got along, moving to jazz or
waltz, and laughing together. There was a strong attraction in the air and
there were moments among the slower dances when he couldn't help but nuzzle
her, and she nuzzled him back. But again, all good things must come to an
end, and Toby tucked her into a snug bed on the couch while she slept. After
that, he himself went to bed and the next morning he awoke to find her gone.

"What did you say to her?" Leo snapped as he barged into the Oval office. Jed
sighed and finished signing the last of the report he was supposed to have
finished the day before.

"The truth; that she's wasting the life that she's been given. Honestly, Leo,
you know you agree with me. She needs to get her act together and find some
stability, a career." He responded coolly and stood up to meet his friend's
gaze. Leo paused and thought about it, perusing his president carefully.

"It's not your place to tell her what to do with her life. You got her very
upset. No one's seen her since yesterday, and the last person who did said
that she went to her car in near tears." Leo replied. Jed sighed and guiltily
looked down at his desk, running his fingers across the edges.

"Well, I sort, kind of, maybe, referred to her father." He mumbled. Leo
blinked and sighed, moving to an armchair and sitting down with a frustrated
sigh. "She does need to move on, Leo, even about her father." Jed added
quickly, in his own defense.

"But she hasn't, and you know it. Her father left when she was nine, Jed. She
worshipped him." Leo retorted. "It's a painful issue for her. You should
know. You were there when they got the call that he was found dead in the
streets. You knew that thirteen-year-old kid who had to go down to the morgue
and take care of her father's body." He added. Jed nodded.

"I know all that, Leo. I drove her there. Goddamn it, I lived next door to
that kid, tutored her in her history classes, and all of that stuff. You and
I were the fathers that she never got, just like Abbey and Jenny were the
mothers she needed after Carolyn left. Robert Brody died when he was 43. He
had an IQ that would stun Einstein, and yet he ended up some nameless bum on
the street. I don't want her to end up like that." Jed retorted just as
fiercely. Leo sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"She's not in the best-"

"She's 34. She needs to take control, maybe even grow up a little." Jed
interrupted.

"Did it ever occur to you that she's been a success in everything she's done?
She gets bored easily, which is why she moves from job to job. She's trying
to keep herself happy." Leo answered calmly. Jed sighed and left the papers
in a mess on the desk so that he could walk over and sit down in the armchair
opposite Leo.

"She's too old to be doing that at the expense of stability. She should find
something and stick to it." He replied.

"She's not your daughter, nor mine, no matter how much we might feel like she
is. Neither of us has seen her in nearly a decade, and the day we do get her
back, you feel it necessary to lecture her about the direction her life is
heading in? She's heard the horror stories about people who get stuck in one
job and stay miserable for the rest of their lives. Maybe it's because she
doesn't want to be like her father that she doesn't find so-called
stability." Leo exclaimed, staring Jed in the face. "Different people have
different needs. Her father died when he was 43. Her mother left when she was
15. She's had to go through a lot, none of it 'stable', and we've been there.
Not everyone needs the same stability that you're wishing for her." He added.

Jed sighed and looked at his feet. Leo sighed as well, stood up and walked
out of the room. Jed clasped his hands together and didn't look after his
friend.

"Hey, Toby. How are you today?" Sam exclaimed as he walked towards his
office. Toby softly grunted something inaudible and disappeared around a
corner. "Well, that's good." Sam retorted softly, to no one in particular. He
started to hum lightly and turned around another corner towards his office.
As he passed Kathy's desk, he glanced over her shoulder to see his schedule.

"You're booked today. You've got some political disasters to work through."
His assistant exclaimed as she stared at the project that was currently
displayed on her screen.

"Do you just see everything?" Sam asked playfully. Kathy smiled and nodded.

"Yes. That's why I work here. CJ is waiting for you." She replied and hit a
few more keys. He smiled and headed into his office where CJ was indeed
waiting. Around the corner, Josh stepped into his own office to find Donna
sorting through the papers she was going to put on his desk.

"I really don't need this, thanks." He exclaimed.

"Well, I'm just the messenger. There's a staff meeting in twenty minutes."
Donna replied. Josh nodded and peered at the papers.

"You busy this weekend?" He asked as he snatched one and began to read it
more closely.

"Yes, and so are you. This country is heading into chaos, Josh. I just heard
that some human rights group is rioting in favor of military action by the
President to intervene in China." She replied and dropped the pile on Josh's
desk. He pretended to shrug it off.

"Oh, that's nothing. Normal business in a place like this, remember? Wanna
play golf Saturday?" He inquired. She smiled weakly and walked towards the
door.

"Not if you're going to make me caddy again." She replied. Josh smiled and
reached for the phone, dialing Toby's extension. He smiled as Ginger's
delicate voice emerged on the other line.

"Toby Ziegler's office." Ginger exclaimed. "Oh, hi, Josh. Yeah, he's here.
I'll put you through." She said with a nod as she switched the appropriate
lines and Toby's phone began to ring. Toby snapped back to reality and stared
at the sleek, black receiver. It rang twice more before he got fed up and
grabbed it, bringing the phone to his ear and moving to turn on his iBook at
the same time.

"Yeah, Toby Ziegler. Oh, hey, Josh." He exclaimed as the screen illuminated
the small dark room. He didn't realize he had yet to turn on the lights. He
turned back and opened the shades while Josh started saying something about
an additional press conference.

"Yeah, whatever, Josh. Yeah, fine. Take care of it." Toby said quickly and
hung up the phone before Josh could ask the question he'd been wanting to ask
ever since Toby hadn't immediately picked up the phone. Truth was, Toby
didn't know if he was okay or not. The events of the night before confused
him, and he was still confused now. He'd asked several people, but no one
knew where KD had gone. He still didn't like her, that he knew. No way that
he was going to start liking her any time soon. She was pushy, immature,
arrogant, outrageous, self-absorbed . . . a lot of other things too, he
thought.

With a sigh, Toby glanced at his schedule for the day and saw that a staff
meeting had been squeezed into the hours sometime between last night and that
moment. He certainly didn't remember it being there before. With a sigh, he
stood up and moved out of the office towards the coffee station in the
hallway. It was already looking to be a long day, and he was due in the Oval
office within a half an hour. He could get in at least four cups of coffee
between then and now, easy. Maybe even six.

Down the hallway and into the Oval office, Jed stared at the same spot on the
wall that KD had picked out the night before. Many thoughts were running
through his mind, most of them about his personal problems and not at all
related to the political issues that had his staffers running around on
broken glass. The headlines of the day were about how the White House had
refused to take a stance on human rights, if only by declining to comment on
an issue that was plaguing a majority of American citizens.

Mrs. Landingham stepped into the room and walked to his desk, placing a copy
of his schedule for the day, plus a few of the reports that Leo had asked to
be dropped off, on the desk where Jed could reach them. She then placed a
warm hand on Jed's shoulder and gave him the small cookie that was in her
hand. He took it and glanced at her.

"Kids will be kids, Mr. President. Countries will be countries. Let's try and
get through the day." She exclaimed softly before turning back and returning
to her desk. He smiled and stuck the cookie in his mouth. A few moments
later, Abbey walked into the room and slowly shut the door behind her.

"You know, no one has seen KD since last night." She exclaimed as she walked
towards him. He sighed and stood up, nodding.

"Yeah, I know. I got Charlie trying to find out where she went, but she's a
free soul. No telling where she thought to go." He replied.

"Did anything happen last night?" Abbey asked nervously.

"No, nothing happened. We had a bad argument, but nothing happened along the
lines that you're hinting at." He retorted harshly, offended that his wife
didn't trust him.

"What did you argue about?" She asked, her interest piqued. He sighed.

"I really don't want to talk about this right now, sweetie. I've got a full
day ahead of me, and Leo has already chewed me out. I'll tell you everything
later, okay? I promise." He replied softly. Abbey stared at him, debating
what she saw as the truth behind his eyes.

"I see." She whispered. "Then I'll leave you to your day." With that, she
turned around and walked out of the room. Jed sighed and collapsed into his
desk chair. It was looking to be a long day. Suddenly, the doors began to
open on all sides of the room and his senior staff members began to pile into
the room, a few of them muttering about every which thing. Jed noticed that

Toby had a starry look in his eyes as he very quietly reviewed with Sam, who
was boisterous as usual. Josh and CJ were clearly trying to sort out some
kind of disagreement, and Leo was just reading a newspaper with a sour look
on his face. Jed sighed. This was going to be a long day indeed.

"I still don't know where we going to squeeze in the hill meeting." Mrs.
Landingham exclaimed absentmindedly to Charlie Young. Charlie nodded and
looked to the door that led into the Oval office, a nervous expression
tugging at his soft features. It had been nearly an hour since the staff
meeting had ended, and the president had yet to show any signs of life aside
from telling Mrs. L that he wanted CJ in his office. Charlie had noticed that
the President seemed particularly downhearted that morning, and he was
worried.

"Charlie. Relax. Have a cookie. We're going to get through all this. We've
suffered worse before." CJ exclaimed as she walked past the desk and straight
into the Oval office where Jed Bartlet was waiting for her. Mrs. Landingham
nodded at Charlie, who then proceeded to get a cookie.

"Mr. President?" CJ exclaimed. Jed glanced at her and then back at the same
spot he'd been staring at.

"Yeah, come on in, CJ." He said softly. CJ glanced at him, moved into the
room and then closed the door behind her.

"You okay, Mr. President?" She asked softly when he didn't say anything right
away.

"Yeah, I just wanted to go over some of this stuff with . . . Actually, no,
I'm not, CJ. I'm not okay." He said, changing his mind mid-sentence. CJ
nodded and moved to sit down in one of the chairs that was opposite the
president's desk.

"Do you want to talk about it, Mr. President?" She asked after a short pause.
He stared at her absently, pondering everything that had happened to him over
the past twenty-four hours.

"Is it wrong to want the best for someone?" He asked softly.

"No, not at all." She replied.

"I can tell someone if I thought they were doing the wrong things with their
life, can't I?" He asked softly.

"It depends on how you word it, sir." She replied.

"Oh? And what does that mean, CJ?" He inquired, his head tilted slightly to
the side. She shifted in the seat and shrugged.

"It means you can give your opinion to someone if they ask, but you shouldn't
preach to someone what you think they should do with their lives. For
example, even your own daughters are free to make their own choices." CJ
replied honestly. Jed mulled over her words carefully and nodded.

"Last night, I told KD that I thought that she was wasting her life." He
exclaimed. "She got upset, especially after I referred to her father, and no
one's seen her since."

"I don't know anything about her father, sir, but I can understand why she
might be upset. You haven't seen her in what, ten years?" CJ started.

"Eight." Jed corrected.

"So after eight years, you see her for one day, and you tell her that you
think she may be wasting her life? How do you know she hasn't been trying her
hardest to live her life to the fullest all this time?" CJ explained. Jed
nodded again, listening carefully.

Jed had a lot to think about as he spilled his guts to CJ. The two talked for
nearly an hour, most appointments having been rescheduled thanks to the
sudden need for beaucoup de staff meetings. Jed's original intention for CJ's
company was to review the press statements with her, to make sure they were
on the same page, but their meeting had turned into a whole mess of
soul-searching and conscience exploring. It almost amazed him how much she
knew what she was talking about, but then he thought 'Well, this is CJ we're
talking about.' She was an intelligent woman, and she had had her share of
social problems, even with the press and their invasions. Upon reflection,
and through conversation, Jed Bartlet grew a new fondness, and a deeper
respect for CJ as they talked.

CJ, on the other hand, was under the firm belief that the president had lost
his mind. She had no idea why she, of all people, ended up being the one he
was talking to. But when he mentioned that both his wife Abbey and his best
friend Leo were extremely upset with him, she understood why he hadn't gone
to either of them. Still there was Sam, Toby, Josh . . . 'Okay, now it
becomes clear. He had to choose between three clowns and me. Nice feeling
knowing I'm the one he picked. Either that or I'm the first one he saw.' She
thought.

As the first hour passed and the second began, Jed and CJ had moved to the
couches, still talking about social relationships, boundaries and when it's
okay to cross them, but the conversation was destined to die out, and did
when they began to talk about the amount of work they had ahead of them. A
political time bomb had been dropped, and they still had a responsibility to
disarm it. Toby was working hard on statements, or so they believed, and Josh
and Sam had given the two of them all the information that was available.
With a sigh, Jed fished out the packet he'd been given and showed it to CJ,
and they finally began to talk about their work. But in the long run, each of
them had a different perspective into who the other one was, and their
respect for each other had been risen to a whole new level.

To Be Continued . . .