"We're gonna trash it." She replied. "It's a piece of shit."

"Would you really go that far?" Josh teased.

"Yep." She retorted. Josh grinned and started to leave, but stopped and
glanced at her again, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Kody, what's that?" He asked.

"What's what?" KD replied absentmindedly as she read her report.

"The golden thing on your left hand." Josh replied. KD looked up at him
and then smiled.

"Oh, that." She said slyly.

"Hot damn!" Josh exclaimed. "Finally, he did it!" He added. KD laughed
and nodded as Josh moved over to take a closer look.

"What's the commotion in here?" CJ asked as she moved into the room to
talk to KD.

"Toby finally asked. Look at this baby." Josh exclaimed as he pointed to
KD's hand. CJ grinned.

"Guys, we were planning on announcing this in some way. I suppose I could
have worn a glove, but can you guys keep it low-key?" KD pleaded with a soft
grin.

"Of course. Let me see her." CJ insisted.

"What's going on?" Toby asked as he moved in.

"We've been found out." KD replied from behind Josh and CJ.

"Oh, boy." Toby groaned.

"Hey, man, way to go!" Josh exclaimed giddily as he raised his hand for a
high five. Toby stared at him blankly and then moved to his fiancée. KD
swatted him playfully and laughed.

"Give him a break, Josh. He didn't get much sleep last night." She
exclaimed. Toby turned bright red. Josh just grinned like an idiot.

"Okay, more than I needed to know and I'm the press secretary for crying
out loud." CJ muttered. KD laughed and nodded.

"Sorry. What was it you needed?" She asked.

"People are going to be asking about Detroit. Are you gonna want to say
anything or do you just want to tell me what to say to them?" CJ asked. KD
shrugged, trying to make light of it, but Toby knew better and made a note to
talk to her later.

"Tell them I went to Detroit to do my duty and now I'm back. All the
hostages came out alive but Faraday didn't. No loss to the world." She
replied coolly.

"I'm not gonna say 'no loss to the world' but everything else sounds
about right. 'No loss to the world' makes you sound like a heartless killer,
Katy." CJ exclaimed.

"Which I'm not." KD returned sharply. CJ smiled.

"No, you're not." She assured her. "Bye guys. Congratulations." She added
and then moved out of the room.

"So when's the date?" Josh asked as he plopped down on the couch.

"Josh." Toby said.

"Yes, Toby?" Josh replied.

"Get out."

"Okay, Toby." Josh said before getting up and leaving, closing the door
after him. Toby pulled KD up into his arms and kissed her gently.

"Hi." He whispered.

"Hi." She said back and kissed him again.

"How ya feeling?" He asked softly.

"Tired. Stressed, I think." She replied honestly. "I wish I could talk to
Ross." She added.

"Who?" Toby asked.

"Ross Gavin, my former partner. He was there with me when we originally
arrested Faraday. He was my best friend and a mentor of sorts when I joined
the Bureau." She explained. "I just wish he could have been there. He stopped
me last time, but he just wasn't here."

"Sounds like a good guy." Toby said softly as he stroked her gently with
his thumb. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, he is." She replied. "I know you'll get to meet him, cause he's
coming to the wedding, whenever it is." She added playfully. He smiled and
pulled her into a deep kiss.

"Anybody else know?" He asked after they pulled apart.

"I didn't tell anyone, but no guarantees they're not gonna go blab it to
the world. This is the White House after all." She said with a smile. He
smiled back and nodded.

"What's the word on economics?" He asked.

"It's got potential, but it's a piece of crap. We're gonna send it out
with the trash and write something that makes sense." She retorted.

"Sounds like you're gonna be busy." Toby said with a sad face. She smiled
and kissed him gently.

"Don't worry about that. I'll never be too busy for you." She cooed. He
smiled and kissed her again. "What do you hear about the hand gun bill?" She
asked. Toby sighed and looked down. "Toby, what's changed?"

"He's gonna veto it, Katy. He thought about it and he's not gonna go for
it. The last time we went on weapons, we went too weak. We need to go
stronger this time, and what we've got won't cut it." Toby explained. KD
gulped and nodded, looking at him.

"I'm gonna talk to him." She said.

"Katy, this is the right thing." Toby insisted.

"Whether we do it in one bill or twenty, Toby, we've got to start taking
steps. We'll rewrite this one too if we have to, but I seriously don't think
we should give it up." She interrupted. Toby sighed and smiled, stroking her
cheek with his thumb. He really didn't stand either which way on this
particular legislation. Neither did anyone else on the staff. But if KD
thought she could help make a difference, he wished all the luck. Besides, he
never thought the President could stand to miss an argument, and KD was sure
to give him one.

"Okay. Good luck." He whispered as he stroked her hair. She smiled at him
and reached up to tickle his ear. He smiled, regretting the day he revealed
to her how sensitive his ears really were, but loving it all the more. She
nodded and slipped her hands around his neck.

"Thank you. I'd better go before I don't want to leave." She said
playfully before moving out of his arms for the hallway. Toby smiled and
waited before moving to her door.

"Hey, David." He muttered.

"Hey, Toby. Congratulations." David muttered absentmindedly as he read
the newspaper.

"You can read, David?" Toby joked.

"Very funny, Toby. Heard KD had to save your team's butt at last night's
game." David retorted, still not looking up.

"Hardly." Toby exclaimed. "Heard you lost your car keys yesterday." He
added before moving off.

"I plead the fifth!" David called after him. Toby chuckled and
disappeared.

"Joss, are you insane?" KD snapped as she leaned forward on the couch.
"It's the only way." She insisted.

"First of all, I resent that question, and second of all, it is not the
only way." Jed retorted, trying to keep his temper in control.

"You gotta put up a fight with this, Joss. This is the kind of thing I
do. This is what you hired me for." KD insisted.

"This is not what I hired you for." Jed insisted.

"No, you hired me to do everything you need me to do, including whatever
slave work you feel is not good enough for Josh, and tell you that you are an
absolutely wonderful person that can do no wrong." She replied calmly as she
leaned back against the couch.

"Exactly." Jed replied with a grin.

"Except it's not true." KD finished. Jed groaned.

"I've said no." He insisted.

"Joss, you have a country here that's falling apart. As much as you don't
want to admit it, there are still accidents and failures out there. Kids are
still walking into their high schools and blowing away their classmates.
Toddlers are still getting into their dad's rifle trunk and accidentally
blowing their own heads off. Punks are still walking along the street with a
.9mm semi-automatic in their pocket just so that they can be assured they're
going to get home safely!" KD exclaimed enthusiastically as she climbed to
her feet and started pacing the Oval office. Jed sighed.

"That has nothing to do with this bill. If anything, this bill is barely
going to have an affect on anything you've just mentioned." He returned. He
enjoyed his debates with her, but he knew there were times when both of them
took the debate too seriously and feelings wound up hurt. This looked like it
could end up as one of those times.

"If it has anything to do with it, it has everything to do with it, Joss.
Think big, start small and move on. We've got more bills on the way, but this
one has to pave the way." KD replied sternly. Jed sighed and looked at his
hands. What to say next? He had to choose his words carefully, and as he
thought, he realized what it was that needed to be said.

"Kid," He started softly, looking at her. "You're truly too biased for
this issue, especially after what happened Wednesday." He continued. She
stared at him blankly, as if in shock.

"You're damn right I am too biased and so is everyone else in the f***ing
country!" She snapped.

"Hey, calm down! That's enough!" Jed retorted angrily, amazed by her word
choice. KD never swore. She had a hatred for the practice that Jed had never
pretended to understand. Probably had something to do with her mother.

"I hardly think so. Want me to spell it out for you, Joss?" She snapped.
"Well, too bad, cause you just asked for it. The day my mother left my house
because she was tired of taking responsibility for her life and for me,
that's when I became biased. The day I got the phone call that my father had
died on the street from a rare mutation of a common disease that no one
understands, that's when I became biased. The day my uncle died in a nuclear
testing accident, that's when I became biased. The day I was born, I became
biased.. The day you offered me a job and said "sign on the dotted line', I
became biased. We're all biased and that has nothing to do with this shit.

"The day the damn doctor told me I had a eighty percent chance of
possessing the same fatal disease my father had, I became biased. The day a
bullet ripped through my body and nearly took my life, I became biased. The
moment Toby asked me to marry him, I became biased. You know what? The day
you were sworn in as president of the united states, you became biased. The
day you married Abbey, you became biased. The day your first child was born,
you became biased. The day you met Leo, the day you drove me to the morgue to
stare at my father's dead body, the day you decided to stand up and make this
country a better place, we all became biased!" She finished in a flurry and
kicked his armchair. The chair jumped a few inches, moving across the floor.
She sat down on the couch and took a breather, taking a deep breath and
trying to force herself to calm down. Jed paused, taking it all in and
realizing she was right. Everyone was biased and that's why there was such a
thing as a difference in opinion. He got up, moved silently across the room
and then sat down next to her, watching her as he chose her words carefully.

"Toby finally asked you to marry him, huh?" He said softly. KD chuckled
weakly and ran her fingers through her hair.

"That's not what we're talking about here." She murmured.

"What'd you say to him?" He asked, fairly certain he already knew the
answer. She chuckled again and glanced at him.

"Same thing you should be saying to this bill, Joss." She replied. Jed
nodded slowly.

"Yes?" He affirmed.

"Yeah." She confirmed.

"Who gets to give you away, me or Leo?" He asked playfully. She smirked
weakly, seeming more tired than she had when she'd walked in. With a shrug
she leaned back against the couch.

"Haven't really given it much thought. He just asked yesterday." She
admitted, flashing the ring. Jed looked it over.

"Very nice. Toby's got good taste." He said with a smile. "When were you
guys gonna tell us?"

"Not for awhile yet. We wanted to find some way to word it, but the ring
was kind of a dead giveaway. Josh nearly had a heart-attack when he saw it."
She replied softly. Jed nodded and looked at the seal on his floor. What was
his responsibility anyway?

"You feel quite strongly about this bill, don't you?" He asked softly.

"My, aren't you perceptive? Good, Joss." KD retorted in a tired taunt.

"What do the others say? Leo, Josh, Toby?" He asked.

"I talked to them. They serve at the pleasure of the president." She
replied softly. He smirked.

"And you?"

"I serve at the pleasure of the President provided that I trust his
motives and have his assurance that he's acting for the good of this
godforsaken country." She replied. "I trust you, Joss, but I get so confused
sometimes by the things that you do." She added.

"You know what I say?"

"It's going to hell in a handcart."

"I'm glad you're on our side."

"Me too."

"You guys set a date yet?"

"No."

"I'll vote it your way. Don't make me regret it."

"I won't. Thank you."

"Don't let it get around that I'm a pushover." He insisted with a grin as
he pulled her into a hug.

"No sirree, Joss." She said with a smile as she returned the gesture.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked as he let her go.

"Dinner with Toby. Finally managed to convince him to go out with other
human beings. CJ and Danny, Sam and Mal, they're all coming. Josh and Donna
might too." She exclaimed as they rose to their feet.

"Nice little group there." Jed said with a soft smirk.

"Hopefully, we'll survive." KD retorted with a shrug.

"And if you don't?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're gonna need a new senior staff." KD returned with a weak smile.
Jed laughed and waved her away.

"Get out of here." He ordered.

"Is that a request, or your way of trying to guess what I want and making
me do it?" KD asked, peering at him.

"It's an order. You're making me tired. Go." He retorted with a grin.
"Get out. I need to relax." She grinned and nodded.

"Yes, sir, Mr. President." She replied and moved out of the room. Jed
moved to his desk and plopped down in his chair with a sigh. Yet another
debate in and out of the way. How many more was he going to have before he
left this legendary office? A great deal more, he hoped.

To Be Continued . . .