"The Morning Report"
Part 3

"Hey Charlie." Zoey exclaimed as she walked past his desk towards the
oval office. He smiled and stood to greet her.

"Hey, Zoey." He replied, placing a gentle hand on her arm as he leaned
forward to kiss her gently. She smiled and ran a hand up the front of his
shirt. Behind them, Gina stood to the side and smiled.

"Is dad in there?" She exclaimed. Charlie nodded, still smiling.

"Yeah. He's meeting with Mr. McGarry and Josh right now. They're talking
about going to the floor tomorrow." He replied, his dark eyes glancing at the
door quickly before resting on her again. Across the room, Mrs. Landingham
raised an eyebrow, smiled and looked back to her computer.

"You want to have dinner with me tonight?" Zoey asked playfully. Charlie
pretended to think it over, as if the answer were anything but yes. After a
moment, Zoey started to tickle him gently. "Well?"

"Yes, yes, I do." He exclaimed, laughing and grabbing for her hands to
make her stop. The door to the oval office opened and Jed Bartlet stopped to
see the two of them nose to nose whispering.

"Now I realize you're never just here to see me anymore." Jed said in a
mock whine. "I knew I should have built a dungeon."

"I don't know where you have room for one, sir." Josh chimed in as he
scooted past the President. "Hey, Zoey." He greeted as he moved out of the
room. Zoey waved to Josh and then walked up to her father.

"Mom wanted me to stop by, ask you if you were going to have dinner with
her tonight or should she make other plans?" Zoey exclaimed as she hugged her
father hello.

"I'll have to call her, let her know I'm all hers tonight." Jed
exclaimed. "As it seems you're all Charlie's. No funny stuff." He added to
Charlie with a stern finger. Charlie smiled and nodded.

"Should have built a dungeon. Mrs. Landingham, where am I going next?"
Jed exclaimed. His personal secretary looked up and then at the small
calendar where she kept his list of many appointments.

"You're going to meet with the security generals, Mr. President. Monthly
defense meeting." She replied. Charlie absorbed the information and glanced
at the president.

"Okay then. Charlie, you ready to go or should I stall for five minutes
while you and Zoey catch up?" Jed asked graciously. Charlie actually blushed
a little bit and looked at his feet.

"Dad." Zoey half-whined and playfully punched him in the gut. Jed and Leo
laughed and starting moving.

"Say, Leo. Have you had a chance to talk to KD yet?" Jed asked, turning
back a second. Leo frowned and nodded, communicating his grim message to his
friend silently. Jed held up a finger and walked back into the Oval office
where he and Leo conferred softly. Zoey frowned and looked to her boyfriend
for some kind of signal as to what was wrong. Charlie didn't know either and
looked at Mrs. Landingham for a similar message. She shook her head and
glanced at the president and his chief of staff. Just then, Jed made a bold
move by kicking one of the couches and sighing heavily. He whispered a few
words to Leo, who nodded and moved out of the room.

"Charlie, let's go." Jed exclaimed with considerably less enthusiasm as
he walked back to them. Zoey raised an eyebrow and stepped forward to her
father.

"Dad, is KD okay?" She asked softly. He sighed and smiled weakly.

"Yeah, she'll be fine, sweetie." He replied just as softly. "Charlie,
let's go!" He exclaimed loudly, regaining some of his energy. "We've got some
defense guys to meet." He added. Charlie smiled and nodded, stepping forward
to lead the way. Zoey smiled and got of the way as her father disappeared
down the hallway, her boyfriend and half a dozen secret service agents
walking with him. Zoey smiled at Mrs. Landingham, turned and walked another
direction towards the residence, Gina close at her side.

"Sam! Where are you?" Josh exclaimed as he moved into the small
communications hub. Toby looked up from his reading, and then returned to it
absentmindedly. Josh glanced at his friend and then moved into Sam's office
to find his colleague on the phone looking very perplexed.

"Senator Mathis, I know you have qualms about the issue. Yes, sir, I have
been put in charge of the exploratory committee, but that doesn't mean a
thing in the long run." Sam exclaimed into the phone. He sighed and listened
for another thirty seconds while Mathis continued to talk. Senator Mathis had
a reputation for talking, and not only that, for loving the sound of his own
voice. Josh had had his days when he had to talk to Mathis, and people didn't
envy him then either. Now it was his turn to pity Sam.

"Sam, tell him the president's calling." Josh whispered. Sam sighed and
rolled his eyes as Mathis ceased to be quiet.

"Senator. Senator, I'm getting a call. I have a meeting with the
President to go to now. Yes, I will convey your concerns to him. Yes. Thank
you, Senator." Sam exclaimed and hung up the phone. "And thank you, Josh." He
added with a smile of relief.

"Health care for the homeless?" Josh asked. Sam nodded.

"Yes, Mathis wants to make sure that mental health care is covered in the
legislature. I wish KD had taken this thing. She really knows how to talk
that asshole down." Sam muttered.

"KD is busy. We've been told to leave it at that." Josh replied as he
sifted through the papers on Sam's desk.

"Remember that." Toby snapped as he walked by the door. Josh nearly
jumped out of his skin and glanced behind him to see Toby disappear around
another corner.

"I'm beginning to believe that he knows about as much as we do." Sam
muttered. Josh nodded.

"Jed, honey, you in there?" Abbey's voice exclaimed as she stepped into
the presidential bedroom. Jed looked up from the selection of ties that he
was trying to sort though in preparation for the meeting he had in nearly an
hour. He didn't know who it was with, but Mrs. Landingham had suggested the
"blue" one. The only problem was that so far he'd found at least seventeen
blue ties.

"Yeah, I'm right here, babe." He replied as he found two more and turned
back to see his wife enter the walk-in closet. "Hey." He greeted and kissed
her gently.

"How's your day been?" She asked with a smile after kissing him back. He
sighed and looked back at the ties.

"It hasn't been that great. Mrs. Landingham told me to wear the blue tie,
but I think I have twenty blue ties. I don't even know who I'm going to meet,
and I have to find 'the' blue tie." He exclaimed as he fished through the
assorted strips of fancy fabric. Abbey smiled and picked out one of the ties
on the end of the row and started to wrap it around his neck.

"Your day hasn't been great because you don't know which tie to wear for
a meeting you know nothing about?" She asked.

"And KD might be in trouble. She's been in a sour mood all day, and I
don't know how she's going to make it through the day." Jed added solemnly,
staring into her eyes. She bit her lip.

"Why? What's wrong?" She asked.

"She's been really antisocial today. Leo talked to her and it turns out
that she may have Hanover's." He replied.

"Oh, God. So close to . . . To Rob's day." Abbey whispered. The day was
fast approaching that marked the anniversary of Rob's death. It'd been eight
years since they'd seen KD make it through that day.

"Yeah. I don't know what to do." Jed said after a pause.

"What is there to do?" Abbey said softly as she tightened the knot
gently. "There's nothing the president can do about a neurological
disorder." She added.

"I just feel like I've got to do something. I've come too far to feel
this helpless." He admitted.

"As much as it is hard for us to believe, we are not her parents. She
told me herself, there are some places that cannot be filled. We can be there
for her, and that's about it." Abbey retorted.

"Aren't you overreacting just a little bit? I was just saying I wish I
could do something for her." He said, stepping back from her a little.

"We don't have any responsibilities to her, Jed."

"I beg to differ."

"Listen, I know you care about her, but she's her own person. The last
time you took it upon yourself-"

"I'm just saying I care about her. I'm not assuming any roles here. I'm
not declaring any responsibility. Abbey, what's wrong?" Jed exclaimed. Abbey
sighed and stormed out of the closet.

"Nothing's wrong. I have to go." She replied heading for the door. Jed
was right on her heels.

"Honey, don't walk away from this. Something's got you upset. Stay here,
and talk about it with me." He insisted.

"You have a meeting. So do I. We'll talk later, I promise." She replied
as she opened the door, walked through it and closed it behind her. Jed stood
where he was for a near minute. Then he sighed and walked over to the chair
where his suit jacket was resting. He grabbed the jacket, slipped it on and
then moved to the door that his wife had just stormed through.

"Charlie! Let's go!" He exclaimed shakily as he moved through the door
and back out into the real world.

"Hey, Margaret. Is Leo in?" Toby asked as he stepped into the young
woman's office. Margaret glanced up from her telephone conversation and
nodded, pointing back through Leo's door. Toby smiled weakly and walked into
Leo's office, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, Toby. What can I do for you?" Leo asked as he pushed his glasses up
his nose to get a better look at the crossword puzzle.

"KD won't tell me what's wrong, and I am more than positive that you know
what it is." Toby said softly getting straight to the point. Leo looked up
from the puzzle and at Toby over the rim of the thin lenses.

"It's not my place to tell you, Toby." He replied.

"Leo, I'm dying here. She's afraid to tell me something, and I wish I
knew why. What could be so bad, Leo?" Toby pleaded.

"Toby, there's a lot that very few people know about KD, about her
childhood and her parents."

"I know her father died when she was very young."

"There's so much more than that, Toby."

"Then tell me, Leo."

"She begged me not to."

"I honestly don't know that I care. To be honest, it's breaking my heart
seeing her like this, feeling her push me away. She's been so miserable, I
just . . . I don't know what to do. Tell me what to do, Leo." Toby pleaded
again. Leo sighed, tossed the puzzle on to the desk, stood up and walked
around the front of it to look Toby in the eye.

"This Friday marks the twenty-first anniversary of KD's father's death."
He said softly after a pause. Toby gulped and nodded.

"That's not so bad." He murmured. "I could handle that."

"KD's doctor has informed her that there is a large probability that she
has the same genetic disorder that killed her father." Leo continued. Toby
gulped again and looked at his feet. "KD is scared, yes. She's afraid of
ending up like her father, and she's afraid that like her father, she'll lose
the love of the one person she needs the most."

"What do you mean? What happened with her father?"

"When Rob was diagnosed, Carolyn, KD's mother, all but disappeared. She
literally stopped loving the man, and it broke Rob's heart, not to mention
KD's. She loves you, Toby. Of that, I'm sure, but she's afraid of how her
life is going to end up. I don't know what you can change about that." Leo
said softly, telling Toby all he thought the other man needed to know, for
the time being, at least. Toby deserved to know everything KD may or may not
have wanted him to, but that wasn't Leo's decision to make.

"She's afraid that I'm going to walk away?" Toby asked softly. Leo
nodded, an almost grim smile on his face.

"Toby, she has never really been able to . . . communicate a great deal
about her family. It's because I think you deserve to know that I've told you
as much as I have. Don't be mad at her, okay?" He said softly.

"Leo, you don't have to protect her. She's a big girl who needs to take
care of her own problems." Toby exclaimed.

"You say that now and yet I'm the one you came to in order to find out
the truth." Leo retorted quickly. Toby paused and then nodded.

"Yeah, okay. It's almost time to go home. I'm gonna go check my office
for some last minute stuff, and then I'll talk to her. Don't worry about it,
Leo." He said softly and walked out of the office. Leo sighed and glanced at
the clock. It was nearly six thirty. He had dinner at seven, dinner with his
wife. Things were going well between the two of them, and he was glad. With a
sigh, he walked over to his coat rack and grabbed his jacket.

To Be Continued . . .