"Hey, babe." She replied. Danny stopped in his tracks.

"I'm sorry, my ear had a thing. Could you say that again?" He asked as he
shut the door behind him. CJ laughed and looked at him, shaking her head. He
grinned and moved around the desk to sit in front of her. "So what's up?" He
asked as he fingered her shoulder lightly with his index. She smiled at the
touch and turned to face him. He smiled at her as she stood up and sat next
to him on the desk.

"A lot, I think. We've got such a full legislative agenda lined up and
there's already talk about preparing for re-election." She muttered. "And
then there's you." She added with a smile. Danny grinned.

"Me? What about me?" He asked as he slipped a little closer to her.

"With you around, I can't concentrate." She confessed. Danny smiled and
kissed her gently. She kissed him back and chuckled as he wrapped his arms
around her. "Danny." She murmured through his lips. "I do have to work, you
know?" She whispered when he finally pulled about a centimeter away from her.
He nodded reluctantly.

"I probably do too. I don't know." He said softly as he stroked her hair.
CJ smiled and traced his jaw with her fingers.

"Danny." She whispered.

"Yeah?" He replied eagerly.

"Get out of here." She teased. He grinned and kissed her again, much
longer and more intense this time.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, slightly breathless as they pulled apart. CJ tried
to breathe and nodded.

"Good." She murmured and kissed him again. He kissed her back, holding
her close. CJ pulled away and pushed him gently. "Get out of here before we
can't stop. I'll see you tonight, okay?" She asked.

"Okay." He said as he moved away. "What's new in the wing? How's KD?" He
asked softly as he paused.

"She's . . . alive." CJ replied hesitantly. Danny smiled weakly and
nodded.

"Good." He replied and left. CJ sighed and retook her seat. She grabbed
the report and tried to remember where she was. Down the hall, Danny looked
around and took a step towards KD's office.

"Hey, David." He said as he came up to the desk. David looked at him and
smiled.

"Hey, Danny." The young man replied.

"How are things with Ginger?" Danny teased. David blushed.

"Do you know everything, Danny?" He asked.

"It's my job. Is she busy?" Danny asked as he pointed to the door.

"Don't you know already?" David teased. Danny laughed. "She's reading. Go
on in." David added. Danny nodded and moved for the office door. He leaned
into the office to see her reading the same release that CJ had been
perusing. She saw him and smiled weakly.

"Hey, you." She said softly. He smiled and moved all the way in.

"Hey. How ya feeling?" He asked kindly. She shrugged.

"Better than I did before." She admitted. Danny nodded. He didn't know
the details but he wasn't about to ask. "Faraday's dead, Danny." She added.
Danny sighed and sat down on her couch.

"Did you . . ." He trailed off.

"Yeah." She admitted.

"This gonna be at the press conference later?" He asked.

"Probably. Press isn't my department. My job is to take the initiative
and let other people clean up after me." She replied with a smile. "Those
people would be CJ and the press department."

"And Toby." Danny added.

"No, he likes to help me mess things up." She said with a grin. Danny
laughed and then noticed the one thing KD did not know how to talk to him
about. He smiled weakly and nodded.

"It's about time." He said softly, pointing to the ring. KD looked at her
hand, gulped and nodded. There was such a past between them that she didn't
know what to say. When she'd broken it off with Danny so many years ago,
she'd never fallen in love again. Now with Toby, she felt like she'd been
swept away from the beginning and whenever she saw Danny, she felt bad about
it. She didn't know why, but she did.

"Danny, I -" She started softly.

"I've seen it coming for a long time, Katy. I'm glad you're happy, and
you know what? I am too. So we're gonna be fine." Danny interrupted her,
knowing what was going through her head. Even after all this time, he knew
what was going through her head when she spoke like that.

"I'm sorry, Danny." She said, looking at him. He looked back and knew
what she was talking about.

"You don't have to be. It was for the best." He replied softly. "Perhaps
it was a sign or something, what happened."

"I refuse to believe God would do something like that just to tell us we
didn't belong." KD insisted softly. Danny nodded.

"You're right. But we're fine now, and we're friends." He replied.

"Now you just have to get off your dumb ass and ask CJ the big question."
KD joked. Danny smiled and nodded. What he could never admit to her was that
he had a similar problem to what she had. Since she'd left so long ago, he
had never had a chance to find love again. Now with CJ, he was flirtatious
and he was happy, but he didn't know if he could stand to ask the big
question again for fear that what happened last time would happen again.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He said softly. KD watched him silently, guessing
what was going through his head.

"We'll have to do a double-wedding." She suggested. "Like you said."

"Like I said?" Danny asked in shock. When he had said that, she was
unconscious on the hospital bed, struggling against the wounds that a piece
of lead had done by ripping through her body.

"Yeah. I may not have been conscious, but I heard you, Danny. Something
about getting shot, it doesn't affect your hearing." She replied softly. "I
had weird dreams too. I dreamt I talked to Joss in the Oval office, spinning
in his damn chair." She remembered fondly.

"Just don't do it again." Danny warned.

"What, get shot? I've done a pretty good job lately. If you'll remember,
bullets were flying two days ago and I came out just fine." She reminded him
with a weak smirk. He nodded and rubbed his hands together.

"So what are you up to today?" He asked, breaking a new silence.

"I got a meeting with the Senator from Minnesota. Then I've got another
meeting." She said with a grin. "Lots of meetings in this job. I'm meeting a
bunch of people who think the Med research is a waste of time." She growled.
"Idiots." She added softly.

"So I should be reporting on a mass murder later on?" Danny teased with a
grin. KD laughed and nodded.

"Absolutely. Know any good lawyers?" She said, still chuckling.

"I hear Josh ain't bad." Danny said playfully.

"Oh, God, no!" KD retorted with laughter. "I'd get the death penalty.
Besides, he's a civil lawyer."

"And a civil person?" He returned. KD shrugged.

"Depends. I gotta see what he does with my Donna first." She returned.

"They finally got it together?" Danny asked. KD laughed.

"Where have you been the past four months?" She asked playfully.

"Donna, where's the press release from Mathis on the Economic pact?" Josh
asked, stopping himself before adding 'self-righteous prick' to the
statement. Donna grabbed the packet and headed for Josh's office. As soon as
she passed the doorframe, he shut the door and took her in his arms, pulling
her lips to his. She kissed him back, dropping the file on his desk and
wrapping her arms around him. He pressed her down against his couch, his
hands roaming over her body as he kissed her harder. She giggled through the
kiss and pulled her lips away. Not the least bit dejected, he moved his lips
to her neck while she murmured softly.

"Josh, the workday isn't over yet." She reminded him softly.

"I can't wait that long." He returned before kissing her ear. She laughed
and pushed him off.

"Sure you can." She teased as she got to her feet. Josh gave her a pair
of puppy dog eyes and stood with her. She giggled and kissed him gently, her
arms going back around him. He slipped his arms around her waist and just
stood there with her.

"I love you, Donatella Moss." He whispered. She smiled and leaned her
forehead against his.

"I love you too, Joshua Lyman." She murmured.

"Will you go out to dinner with me tonight?" He asked softly. She smiled
and nodded.

"If you can wait that long." She teased. He nodded and kissed her again.

"I'll do my best." He assured her.

"Good. Now get to work." She insisted before moving out of the office.
Josh just grinned and went back to his desk. As he started to read, his phone
rang. He leaned forward and grabbed the handle.

"Josh Lyman. Oh, hi . . . Yes, I heard. Yes." He said slowly as the
person on the other line continued. He laughed suddenly. "That would be
great. Yeah, I'm in. Okay, great. Let me know what I can do. Okay. Bye Mrs.
Bartlet." He said finally before hanging up.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?" KD asked as she plopped down on Leo's couch. He
glanced at her and smiled.

"Too much." He declared. "Heard Toby asked you the big question." He
added. She smiled and nodded.

"News travels fast in the West Wing." She replied.

"Absolutely." Leo said with a nod as he glanced down at his many, many
papers. "Listen, I gotta talk to you about a couple things." He said softly.
"First the economic pact."

"Yeah?"

"We're dropping it."

"Yep. I know."

"Okay. What's next then?"

"We're gonna write something that makes sense. We'll do better next
time." She replied.

"No one we care about was going to vote for it." Leo added. "You're
talking to John Lewis later today, right?"

"Yes, sir, I am." She replied.

"Good. He's one of the Big Four that won't listen to anybody but you."

"Good thing I'm on your side."

"Of course." Leo retorted with a smirk.

"Anything else?" She asked with a grin. Leo sighed and looked at her, a
little more serious.

"Yeah, you gonna tell anyone this year?" Leo asked.

"Didn't last year, won't this year."

"I suppose Toby is lucky enough that you told him."

"Thought at least he should know."

"The others might start to suspect, you know. It's kind of unusual if
someone doesn't -" He started.

"It's no big deal, Leo." She interrupted.

"You've been here nearly a year. The guys are gonna want to know when you
become a year older. If one day you're 36, as opposed to being 35, they're
gonna want to know where that came from." Leo pointed out.

"Leo, promise me."

"I didn't tell them last year, I won't this one." He said grudgingly.

"Good." KD replied. There was a long silence as they sat there.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm tired of everyone asking me that. I am or I'm not, but there's
nothing anyone can do about it. I'm fine, Dad." She assured him.

"What about the wedding? You okay about that?" Leo asked.

"I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't want to, Dad. I talked to Danny
today too, and everything's fine." She replied.

"What about the ceremony? Which way are you guys gonna go?"

"Leo, I converted four months ago."

"What??"

"I converted. I was never a very good Catholic and if it makes Toby
happy, I'll do it. I've been going to temple with him for quite awhile now,
and Rabbi Glassman is a great guy." She added with a smirk.

"How come you didn't tell us?" Leo asked in amazement.

"It never came up." KD returned as she stood and headed for the door.
"I'll call you when I get back from Lewis." Leo watched her go and then
stared at his desk.

"Wonder how Jed's gonna feel about this one." He muttered.

"Okay, I got it, babe. Bye, I love you." Jed exclaimed before hanging up.
As he did so he looked up and saw Leo coming through the door. "Hey, Leo.
That was Abbey. She just called to . . . Leo?" Jed paused in concern for the
look on his best friend's face.

"Sorry. I was just thinking. What's going on?" Leo asked.

"Leo, you look like you were hit by a mack truck or something." Jed
commented.

"I just got off the phone. I was talking to Jenny. She, uh, told me that
she was moving back to New Hampshire and that even though we gave it a shot,
she can't do it." Leo murmured.

"Oh, Leo, I'm sorry. I thought you guys had it all back together?" Jed
asked disappointedly. Leo nodded and sighed.

"I thought so too, but I think she was just lonely. I think she just
wanted to be with someone, if anyone." He admitted.

"That's not right, Leo." Jed said softly.

"It's okay, Mr. President. It doesn't hurt as much as I would think it
would." Leo assured him, a weak smile on his face. "I'm almost glad it's
happened. One less thing to worry about."

"That's a good way to see it. You gonna be okay?" Jed asked carefully.

"Yeah, I am. I really am, Jed." Leo said softly. Jed nodded.

"Okay. Abbey's gone on a planning rampage." The President started as he
walked back to his desk.

"I'll bet." Leo said with a chuckle. "She take to the converting okay?"

"Converting?" Jed asked with a raised eyebrow.

"KD's conversion to Judaism." Leo clarified. Jed collapsed into his chair.

"Should have seen that one coming." He muttered.

"She never went to church anyway. She's going to temple now though." Leo
pointed out.

"Oh, great. So I can't get her to go, but Toby can. Shows you where I
stand." Jed retorted.

"She doesn't really believe in religion, Jed. She believes in the act of
being with the ones you love, but not religion. So of course she's gonna do
what she can to be with Toby, and we're gonna stand by her for it." Leo
replied. Jed smiled at his friend and nodded.

"I never said we'd do otherwise." He replied. "Where is she now?"

"On her way to meet with John Lewis." Leo exclaimed. Jed grimaced.

"Great." He said before hearing his phone ring. He grabbed the handle and
pulled it to his ear. "Bartlet. Yes. Who? Gavin? No, I don't . . . Oh. Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Erickson. Okay. Yes. Good-bye." He said softly before hanging
up. Leo watched him carefully, an eyebrow raised.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Ross Gavin was killed in a car crash." Jed stated softly.

"Who?" Leo asked, slightly confused.

"Katy's mentor from the Bureau." Jed replied, looking at his friend. His
sadness was reflected as the realization hit them both.

To Be Continued . . .