CJ stared out the window, watching the clouds roll by. Behind her, she
could hear Josh talking to KD and Danny. Suddenly the three laughed. They
were in another section of the plane, but she could hear them. She knew that
Danny was right. She couldn't explain it, but she knew he was right. Maybe
she really was just searching for a reason that the relationship between her
and Danny couldn't work, a reason other than the fact that there was a
conflict of professional interest.

She heard them laugh again, and wondered how it would feel to stand there
and laugh with them. What were they talking about? Old times? No, Danny
didn't love KD the same way as he did. He loved her as a friend now, nothing
more. If that didn't convince her, she knew that KD and Toby were very close.
If they could, they'd be together every waking moment. CJ knew from what her
friend had told her that things were not that serious quite yet. KD and Toby
had yet to have any 'sleepovers', and neither had Danny and CJ.

Now CJ felt as if she'd spoiled the whole thing, but she felt as if she
had a good enough reason why. Danny could have told her what was wrong. He
could ask KD right now and . . . No, that would be wrong. CJ snapped back to
reality and looked back out the window. She hadn't noticed that the laughing
had stopped, that Josh and KD had gone forward down the aisle to different
destinations and that Danny was leaning against the wall, watching her as she
watched the white clouds drift through an endless blue sky.

"I didn't like how we left things." He admitted softly. CJ spun and
looked at him, her eyes slightly widened.

"No, I didn't either." She confessed. "I overreacted and I was wrong."
She conceded. He moved forward.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked. She smiled weakly and shook her head. He
sat down and took her hand in his. "CJ, there are some things that I can't
tell you, and I'm not about to ask KD if I don't really have to. But I can
tell you this: I love you. Whatever happened in the past, nothing changes
that now." He informed her softly, staring her straight in the eyes. She
smiled and nodded.

"I love you too." She finally admitted to him, and also to herself. He
smiled, took her face in his hands and slowly pressed his lips to hers.

"That's more like it." KD said softly and then disappeared into the
plane. She moved passed two secret service agents, to whom she smiled and
nodded. They returned the favor and then resumed a gruff ready position. KD
shook her head, grinning and then moved further towards the cockpit. She
passed Josh who was talking softly into the phone. She winked at him and then
turned into the Presidential office. Jed was snoozing on the couch so she
immediately ducked out again. She moved to a seat back in the main cabin of
the plane and glanced out the window, just thinking.

Toby stared out the window. He didn't have the best of views from the
small office, but he wasn't really looking at the view. He was thinking,
thinking hard. 'KD is coming home today', he thought. 'Do I have anything to
feel guilty about?', he wondered. The sky seemed gray almost, but not
exactly. He could see that it was blue, a dark shade of its typical cyan. But
the way he saw it, it seemed gray. He wasn't sure what he wanted anymore.

He wasn't certain who he wanted.

Slowly, he turned and glanced at the clock. The plane was well on its way
by now. They'd gotten word that the plane was only an hour late in taking
off, rather than the predicted two hours. One downside to riding on Air Force
One was that no matter what, your passengers were always going to be delayed
by crowds, photographers, reporters shouting questions, several dozen
security checks and a few dozen other procedures that worked to preempt the
takeoff time. This was all part of the reason that Toby did not like to tag
along on the occasional trip out of Washington. Another reason was that he
didn't want to listen to the Wink Martindale wannabe as he exuded an endless
stream of useless facts and inane trivia questions. Jed Bartlet may have been
the President of the United States, but that didn't mean that Toby had to
suffer through Executive Jeopardy. Right now Toby even felt a spark of pity
for the people that were on the plane.

KD was on the plane; somewhere around 30 to 45,000 feet in the air. Toby
knew that she loved planes. Two weeks before, KD had gone to a nearby air
force base to take some flying lessons that were offered to her by a former
FBI partner of hers who was now a captain in the force. Toby didn't want to
go in the plane but he watched, and just watching he knew he probably would
have thrown up on the ride. When she came back down, she was laughing,
completely exhilarated, and she ran to him to tell him all about it. He'd
laughed with her as they talked about her adventure and then they'd gone home
to where they made an elegant dinner together and ate in candlelight.
Memories seemed to weigh heavily on Toby's mind as he stared at the small
golden wedding band in his hand. He'd taken it off, but he'd still had not
gotten rid of it. He'd stuck it in his drawer and forgot about it. Then Andy
came to visit and he didn't know what to think anymore. Why would she want
him back? She seemed happy where she was, why would she dig up the past
because he'd moved on? Why would she want to?

"Hey, Toby. The plane's new ETA is about eight thirty tonight, okay?" Sam
exclaimed as he leaned in through the door of his colleague's office. Toby
looked at the younger man and nodded.

"Yeah, okay." He replied softly. Sam raised an eyebrow and moved to his
own office. Once there, he collapsed into his chair and begin to spin gently.
He had to work on the environment pitch that the President was going to
deliver day after tomorrow, for Toby gave it to him yesterday with a silent
aura of mourning. Sam figured that his friend just missed KD, but today he
got the strange feeling there was something more going on.

"You're nuts." KD exclaimed with a laugh as the group of politicians
stood by the door, ready to get off the plane and home to their warm beds.
Jed was starting to realize what cabin fever really meant. KD was still
laughing with him, but she seemed antsy, as did Josh, CJ and even Matt, the
secret service agent. They all just wanted to get off the plane. Jed couldn't
help but wonder if all they wanted was to get away from his trivia questions.

"Well, if I'm nuts, what does that make you?" He retorted as he watched
the secret service agents work to get the door open. KD shrugged and watched
the same men carefully.

"Demented, but that's another story." She insisted. Jed laughed as the
door moved open and several secret agents moved through it. It was fairly
dark but the various flashing bulbs of the Washington DC press corps
illuminated the airport. Jed waved to the cameras and smiled when he saw Leo
and Abbey leaning against the limo that was waiting for him. The group
trotted down the stairs, moving down an aisle made in the crowd for them to
walk through. Reporters shouted questions and photographers took several
dozen pictures each. KD kept wondering what the big deal was all about.

"Hey, you!" Jed exclaimed as he pulled his wife into a hug. She hugged
him back and then took the kiss he gave her. The amount of flashing cameras
suddenly increased.

"Hey, dad." KD exclaimed as she walked up to Leo. He smiled and hugged
her hello. KD smiled back and looked around. "Busy enough for us?" She asked
with a grin, a grin that struck Leo as slightly nervous.

"What can I say, we're very popular people." He retorted as Sam trotted
up to them. KD glanced at the young man.

"Hey, Sam. Where's Toby?" She asked cautiously. Sam sighed.

"He said he's got a lot of work to take care of but he'll call you
later." The young man replied. KD paused and then nodded carefully.

"Okay then. Work is work. Where's my car?" She asked. Sam handed her the
keys to her blood red Ford Explorer. "I'll, um, see you guys at work
tomorrow." She added quietly as she started to move away. "Bye Joss, Abbey,
Josh." She added. Leo watched her go and realized that she was hurt by Toby's
absence, but she could never let that show.

"Hey, there." Donna said softly as Josh walked up to her with a large
grin. He slipped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Hey back." He whispered before kissing her hello.

"Miss Brody, how did it go in Washington?" A reporter called to her as
she walked by. She smiled and shrugged.

"I beat the President at chess again, but if you're asking about the gun
control approach, the senate seemed impressed, but we won't really know until
Friday, now will we?" She replied as she fished through her keys to get the
door opener out.

"Where's Mr. Ziegler this evening?" Someone asked. KD paused internally
and jabbed the key into the door.

"He's working. Just because the President flies across the country
doesn't mean that the country itself stops running." She replied before
climbing into the car and closing the door with a soft slam. Reporters
scribbled down their notes as they heard the engine start. KD sighed and
pulled the car forward, driving out of the airport.

KD hummed softly as she placed the large glass into the dishwasher and
closed the appliance door gently. She wiped down the small kitchen counter
and started to think. It had been a long day, like most days that were
occupied by plane rides were. Jed had decided to 'entertain' her with a few
more hours of useless facts. There was something kind of freakish about him.
She'd changed the subject several times and finally managed to get a debate
out of him which was much more interesting. By the end of the flight, they
were both very content but most definitely very tired. When they'd stepped
off the plane and she saw that Leo was there waiting for them, as were Abbey,
Sam and Donna, but no Toby, she admitted to feeling a sudden emptiness. She
still had not heard from him, and she was beginning to wonder if things were
okay.

With a sigh, she glanced at the clock. It was going on ten o'clock, and
it was time for her to get ready for bed. She grabbed a dishtowel and began
to dry her hands absentmindedly when the doorbell rang. She glanced back
towards the front door and then moved to it, one hand grabbing the knob while
the other reached up to unlock the door. She pulled it open and smiled.

"Toby. This is a switch." She joked, remembering the time when she'd come
to his door late at night. "Come on in." She added softly as he said nothing.
He moved in. KD frowned as she closed the door. He wasn't looking at her, and
he still hadn't said a word.

"Want something to drink? Coffee? Water? White wine?" She rattled off the
possibilities as she moved back towards the kitchen. "Blood? Answer me
please, Toby." She added with a weak smile.

"White wine sounds good. What's the vintage?" He asked softly.

"85, Chandler Chardonnay. It's all I've got that's cold." She replied as
she walked to the fridge. Toby nodded his approval and leaned against the
kitchen counter, watching her as she fished out two glasses and a bottle
opener. He watched her slender fingers as they gracefully took a hold of the
opener and applied it to the bottle. Suddenly he moved forward and slipped
his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. She smiled as she felt his
touch and started to pour the wine.

"I missed you." Toby whispered gently in her ear.

"I missed you too. I must admit, I was kind of surprised not to see you
at the airport today." She replied as she turned in his grasp and handed him
the small glass of golden liquid.

"I, uh, had some stuff to do. Extra work and that crap." He replied as he
took a smell of the wine. Finding the scent to his satisfaction, he took a
sip and then looked at KD to see her do the same.

"Hmm. Sweet, dry, but lovable." She said softly before kissing him
gently. He smiled as he realized that she was talking about him just as much
as she was about the wine.

"Excellent in any case." He added. She chuckled and nodded, taking
another sip. He noticed that he was rather close to her, pinning her against
the counter's edge and he took a step back. KD frowned a little.

"What's wrong, Toby? There's something you're not tell me." She said
quietly. He sighed and placed his glass on the counter.

"The day you left, about two hours after your plane took off, my ex-wife
came to visit me and she asked me to escort her to a dinner. I reacted to
this and she admitted that she wanted to give our relationship another
chance." Toby confided quietly. KD gulped softly and nodded. Toby noticed
that her eyes had started watering slightly.

"And what did you say?" She asked carefully.

"I said no, and told her to get out of my office, but-" Toby started.

"But the idea managed to get planted in there somewhere." KD finished.
Toby nodded. He should have known she knew him so well. She did know him so
well that she could know what kind of thinking he'd been exploring.

"Yes." He admitted aloud.

"So what are you going to do now? I mean, what do you want to do?" KD
asked weakly. "I just want whatever makes you happy, Toby." She added softly.
Toby shook his head and took her in his arms.

"Don't think for a moment that I'm going anywhere. This is my answer to
you and to her, the fact that I'm standing right here, right now. I love you,
Katy." He assured her. She smiled and hugged him. He hugged her back and then
felt her lean back a bit. He smiled at her again and then kissed her gently.

She kissed him back and held him tighter. She felt his hands move up her back
as he pressed her closer to the counter. Suddenly, she pulled away from him
and flashed him a mischievous grin.

"What?" He asked, a slightly confused smile on his face.

"I just got an idea." She replied and then moved out of his arms into the
other room. Toby paused a moment and then followed her into the living room
where he found her pressing play on the stereo. He smiled weakly as she spun
around and began to dance to the music. His eyes followed her as she moved
across the floor towards him, swaying her hips and beckoning him with slender
fingers. She reached him and began to move against his body, trying to pull
him into the dance. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and he pulled her
into his arms, beginning to dance with her. The evening was beginning to see
more and more like the one night where Toby and KD had first bonded, dancing
across Toby's apartment floor.

Now tonight, Toby kept his arms around her and began to dance with a
serious expression on his face. KD giggled as he dipped her over the hardwood
and then pulled her up again into an embrace. She looked deep into his eyes,
and he gazed back before kissing her again, this time much more fiercely than
before. She felt his hands moving gently against the skin of her back and
suddenly got an idea of what he was moving towards. She leaned back a moment
and looked into his eyes again. He looked back.

"KD, I-" He started, but suddenly he felt her kissing him again,
silencing him tenderly. He felt her hands reach up over his shoulders and
push his jacket to the ground. He clutched her tighter, and suddenly began to
feel better than he had in days.

The End