"Katy? I found the box." Toby called as he walked into the room, carrying
a small wooden box that was about six inches by five by three. She looked at
him, put the book on the desk and moved to intercept him.

"I remember this thing." She murmured. "We got it when we landed in New
York. We had just dealt with a bombing in Chicago and we landed at three
o'clock in the morning after not sleeping for nearly four days. He saw the
box and said it meant something. I just wanted to go home and sleep." She
remembered with a chuckle. Toby put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed
her close, rubbing her arm gently.

"It's the last thing on the list. Everything else I found a box for." He
said softly. It was going on seven o'clock and he was anxious to get out of
the small house. It felt a little creepy poking around a dead man's house
looking for a bunch of things to take home. KD had found the things on the
list, but she'd also found other small trinkets and objects that held meaning
for her. Toby had managed to find a brand new unfolded cardboard box in
Gavin's closet and did his best to assemble it. The objects fit into the box,
none of them being very large. KD opened the box slowly and fingered the
things inside. There was a small ring, a tiny book, a few random marble
statues no bigger than ping pong balls. She lifted the top layer off and
looked underneath it. She put the layer back before Toby could see what was
underneath.

"Let's just go home." She said softly as she took the book, a small black
pen and the box out of the room. Toby followed slowly, concerned for her but
also not wanting to pressure her. KD put the last objects into the cardboard
box and then stood at her full height and looked around the foyer of her
friend's home. There were other things that she couldn't imagine selling
away, but she didn't know what to do with them, and she didn't want the
memory of her friend haunting her for the rest of her life.

"You okay?" Toby asked softly as he placed his hand in the small of her
back. KD hugged him tightly and buried her face into his chest. He held her
tightly and rested his chin on her head as she cried softly into his jacket.
His hand reached up to stroke her hair as he held her close, just letting her
get it all out. She held him tighter, thankful that he was there for her and
look into his eyes. He looked back and smiled weakly.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"For what?" He asked.

"For being so wonderful." She replied.

"Don't let it get around. I've got a reputation to protect." He said
playfully. She smiled and nodded.

"Your secret's safe with me." She promised and then kissed him gently. He
kissed back and then held her again. "Let's go back to the hotel. I don't
want to be here anymore." She said softly. He nodded, took hold of the box
and led her out of the house. She stopped to lock the door and then they both
walked to the curb where their rental car waited for them.

Sam Seaborn whistled a little as he walked through the hallways. Sunday
night and he'd done everything he needed to do for the First Lady. He was
finally heading back to his office where he could grab his stuff and then go
home for at least twelve hours of freedom. He glanced at his watch. Eight
o'clock. Okay ten hours of freedom then. He shrugged and turned into his
office, only to find someone waiting for him.

"Mal." He exclaimed cheerfully. "What a wonderful surprise." He added.
Mallory looked at him and smiled sweetly.

"Surprise then." She replied. He grinned and moved to kiss her. She
kissed back and slipped her arms around his neck. A little surprised, Sam
leaned back and looked her in the eye. She smiled at him and looked back.
"You too busy for a late dinner?" She asked softly.

"No, not at all." He replied with a soft smile. "I'd be delighted." He
added, moving away from her only to grab his jacket and his briefcase. Then
he moved back to her side and kissed her gently. "I could get used to that."
He whispered. She smiled at him and walked away.

"We'll see." She teased. Sam grinned and started out after her. Down the
hall, Josh scribbled on his notepad and muttered a few random things about
Senators Lewis and Mathis. He scribbled some more, ripped the paper off of
the pad and got up to deliver the paper to Toby's office for when the man
returned to the office two days later. As he stepped out of the office, he
trailed his fingers along Donna's neck, tickling her gently as he headed down
the hallway towards the communications bullpen. Donna shivered a little and
smiled. Josh whistled softly as he stopped by Ginger's desk.

"Ginger, you okay?" He asked softly. "You seem a bit distracted." She
looked at him and sighed.

"David's father is in town. We had lunch together yesterday, but he's so
different now. It's like when his father is in a ten mile radius, he just
blanks out and I don't know what to do with him. He's so distant, Josh. I
don't know what to do with him." She repeated softly. Josh sighed and sat on
the desk next to her. He didn't know what he could say. He'd never had
problems with his own father, so he didn't have any experience to draw from.

"I think that if you're just there for him, he'll do fine. In the
meantime, you want me to send the secret service and have them beat daddy boy
up?" He said, softly playful. Ginger laughed and shook her head.

"I can't have that on my conscious. The President gave the guy a good
tongue lashing though. I don't think it was as good as the President wanted
it to be, but it was enough for the moment." She muttered.

"Uh oh. Am I gonna see headlines tomorrow? President lashes out at aide's
millionaire father?" Josh asked while raising an eyebrow. Ginger laughed and
shook her head.

"You would have seen it this morning, if at all, and if you do see, the
White House has a lot of mighty fine comebacks." She assured him. Josh
grinned and nodded, handing her the paper.

"Make sure Toby gets that Tuesday?" He asked. She nodded, putting it into
Toby's inbox, which was rapidly growing fuller. Josh looked at it and sighed.
All it did was remind him of what had happened. "Maybe I'll keep it. Looks
like he has enough to deal with." He said softly as he picked up the notes
again. "Tell David I said hi and if he ever needs me, my door is always open,
okay?" He exclaimed as he started back towards his office.

"Okay, Josh. Thank you." Ginger called back. Then she leaned back in her
chair, closed her eyes and tried to think.

"Hey gorgeous." David's voice exclaimed. Ginger opened her eyes and
looked at him with a smile. The smile faded a little when she saw the blue in
his eyes had faded a little. He looked more tired than he had yesterday and
it felt like it was only getting worse.

`"Hi handsome." She replied softly. "How you feeling?"

"Tired. Ready to go home. Wanna go and watch a movie or something?" He
asked, somewhat oblivious to the concern in her voice and eyes.

"David. Have you heard from him again?" She asked softly. David looked at
her, a little shocked by the question.

"Yeah, he's called a couple times. I don't want to think about him
though, okay?" He exclaimed somewhat harshly.

"David, maybe you need to tell him the truth. Maybe it's time you stood
up to him and set things right." Ginger said softly. David inhaled sharply
and looked at his feet.

"I'm gonna go home now, Ginger." He replied quietly and took off down the
hall. Ginger bit her lip and looked away from his fleeing figure. She was
right, she knew it. Now it was only a question of what to do next. She didn't
know if she had to go to David and apologize, but she knew that she couldn't
until he'd had time to think. Maybe she would take his words to heart. She
hoped so.

Monday afternoon was a hectic one. Josh paced his office, waiting eagerly
for the phone call from Mathis so that he could get the argument over with
and move on. Outside, Donna tried to get a word in edgewise with the
secretary of Senator O'Connor, but the woman seemed to be gabbing about flat
tires or something of the like. Josh leaned out the door and then noticed
something strange. He crossed the room and leaned in KD's office door.

"Listen to me, Mathis, I know you have concerns. I know you think this
thing is worth it." She exclaimed before noticing Josh in the door. She waved
him in and then redirected her attention back to the phone. "Listen to me,
senator, the information the pact is based on is totally off the wall. The
pact is an extremely expensive waste of time, and you know it."

"David, what is she doing here?" Josh asked as he glanced back at the
moody assistant.

"Damned if I know." David muttered. "She makes her own decisions. So do
I. So do we all." He added.

"Calm down, man." Josh interrupted as he closed KD's door to concentrate
on the young man and his temper. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Why is everyone asking me if something's wrong? I'm
fine. Just fine." David retorted. "I don't know why KD's here. She was given
a day off, and she's here. I'm not her b-"

"David, shut up." Josh interrupted. David shut his mouth and stared into
space absently. Josh sighed and clasped his fingers together. "What happened
to you? What's wrong? Seriously." David looked at him and shook his head,
dropping his hands to the desk.

"I don't know. My dad's in town. Ginger said that she thinks I should
deal with him and not look back. I don't know what to do here. I mean, he's
my father. Sure, he's an asshole, and I don't like seeing him but I can't
just brush him away." David said softly.

"Ginger just cares about you, and to be honest, I think it hurts her to
see you like this. I can tell you right now, I don't like it one bit." Josh
said candidly. David looked at him and smiled weakly, nodding.

"Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry about that. I just . . . I don't know what
to do. It's frustrating." He admitted.

"I'll bet it is." Josh said softly. David nodded and glanced at KD's door.

"I don't know why she's here today. I know Leo gave her the week off or
something, but she seemed adamant about staying. If you ask me, I'd say she
needs something to distract her." The young man said softly before looking at
Josh again. Josh nodded and moved back for KD's office. As he opened the
door, he found her sitting at her desk, scribbling on a pad of paper.

"Yes, I understand that, Senator." She said softly as she drew a picture
of a hangman. Josh couldn't help but smirk as she drew little bullets and
knives flying into a little hanging figure labeled Mathis. "Senator, have you
ever stopped to think about the fact that you're not listening to me? Yeah.
Okay. You know what, I'll talk to you later, Senator. I have people waiting
now. Bye, bye." She added harshly and hung up.

"Did you just hang up on a US Senator?" Josh asked. KD looked up and
shrugged.

"He's used to it. I do it all the time." She replied before looking down
at her desk. She ripped off the paper with the dead figure on it, crumpled it
up and tossed it into her recycling bin.

"What are you doing here, Kody? You're supposed to be home, in front of
the TV or something eating fattening food products and thinking about nothing
but how stupid Jerry Springer is." Josh exclaimed as he approached her desk.
KD looked up at him.

"You know, for someone like you, that's got to be the most surprising
thing I've ever heard you say. You actually watch Jerry Springer?" She asked.
Josh sighed and sat down.

"That's not what I meant. You could watch whatever you want. I'm just
saying. You've been given a free ticket. Why are you working?" He asked
again, gesturing to her desk.

"My name is Katy and I am a workaholic." She retorted, raising her right
hand before returning to her report.

"You're not sup-" Josh started.

"Shut up, Jolly. I'm here. I'm working. Deal with it." KD interrupted as
kindly as she could. She smiled weakly at him, causing him to smile back. "I
know dad gave me the week off, but I'm not about to take it. If I do, I might
lose my sanity sitting in my bed eating fattening food products and watching
people beat each other up because one guy slept with his girlfriend's
mother's sister and decided to leave em both for an alien."

"I think I saw that one." Josh exclaimed. KD chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I think I treated that one." She retorted. "Jerry made those ER
days so much fun." She muttered.

"He was around then?" Josh asked with a furrowed brow.

"I don't even know. Did you need something other than to scold me and
talk about Jerry Springer, who's not even that bad a guy once you've punched
him in the nose?" KD asked. Josh laughed.

"Tell me you didn't punch him in the nose." He exclaimed. KD smiled
innocently and shrugged.

"Okay, I didn't punch him in the nose." She replied sweetly. Josh laughed
and got to his feet.

"Okay, okay, I get the idea. You ever need me, I'm right down the hall."
He reminded her before leaving the room. He gave David a friendly pat on the
back while heading for his own office.

To Be Continued . . .