Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me and no copyright
infringement is intended.
Spoilers: "In This White House"
Archive: Sure, just let me know.
Summary: Ainsley Hayes, while working late, discovers that the White House
is haunted by some frightening things.
Haunted House
Ainsley wished she had a real desk, in a real office, but that
wouldn't happen until all the paperwork for her hire was
completed. She had asked Leo McGarry and gotten permission to
look over some files and past requests so she could familiarize
herself with the job. She did not get where she was at her age
without being diligent about her responsibilities.
She found herself sitting in the bullpen of the West Wing senior
staff area, at a desk which looked as if it had been recently
vacated. She found the desk drawers empty, except for a man's
picture, with his face blacked out by indelible marker and the
words "Cretin boy" written across the front. Obviously the ex
boyfriend of the last occupant of the desk.
She also wished she hadn't decided to do this tonight. She was
cursed with a vivid imagination and an inconvenient memory for
the ghost stories of her childhood. Perhaps this wasn't the best
place to be right now.
It was late and she was alone. The lack of bustle was a little
eerie, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from reading
over the files. All of the staff, as far as she knew, had gone
home. Even the cleaners had been by. The single lamp made
shadows in the room, but she bent her head to the files, reading
over the past year's worth of information requests made to the
White House counsel's office.
And what an odd bunch of requests they were, too. Anything and
everything from current personal financial disclosure rules to
the International Court of Justice's ruling on the Middle East
peace accords to the precedents involving the Enclosures Act in
England. This was a hodgepodge of legal jurisdictions and
rulings that taxed her brains more than she expected. Was she
really expected to research cases that went back centuries?
As it turned out, she was. Whatever legal advice the President
or his staff asked for, they were legally obligated to provide.
At least her job was to provide legal counsel, not to find out
how to make the laws involved palatable to the American public.
Larry and the other guys in the Republican Party thought she was
a little loopy to take the job, but she was content. The
opportunity to learn law in its rawest form, as well as be there
for the inner workings of government was invaluable. She was a
little hurt at the accusations of betrayal from some of the party
faithful, but she felt that her input would make the country a
better place and that was what mattered. She couldn't care less
who got the credit, so long as she had some hand in getting the
country back on track. Party loyalty was all well and good, but
creating and sustaining the America she loved was more important.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly, putting the file down. This was
worse than the bar exam.
She thought she heard a noise and jumped. Then she slowly made
herself relax.
"Ainsley, even if it is only three weeks after Hallowe'en,
there's no need to get spooked." She told herself softly.
"There's cleaners here." Not quite reassured, she scolded
herself on being overly fanciful.
She went back to her file, telling herself that there was no
earthly reason for the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.
Okay, she was pretty much alone in this big, quiet building. The
security people were on the outside, not in. And weren't there
stories of the White House being haunted?
She ignored the ghostly light in her peripheral vision, telling
herself that it wasn't there. Still, the sense of the light
bothered her. She wasn't about to look, though. Her mama and
grandmama had told her stories of ha'nts and she wasn't about to
get caught by some spooky apparition in the middle of the night.
Not a good way to start a new job.
An eerie whistle made her jump and scream, papers flying out of
her hand. She got to her feet and backed against the door, glad
to have something solid to lean against.
"Are you all right?" A deep voice asked her quietly and Ainsley
closed her eyes tight.
"This isn't happening to me. This isn't happening to me." She
repeated under her breath, trying to get her hammering heart
under control.
"Miss Hayes?"
There is was again. A male voice. An unfamiliar male voice.
She cautiously opened one eye and peeked at the voices owner,
half hoping, half dreading that she was just imagining things.
Standing by the desk was a balding, bearded man, rumpled and
tired looking. He was holding a cup in one hand and dunking a
tea bag up and down with the other.
"You scared me half to death." Ainsley put one hand to her
breast and sighed. "I thought I was here all alone. I was
trying to read up on the past requests, just so I would know what
sorts of things I'd be researching...."
"Miss Hayes." The man's voice went stern, the tone sardonic.
"Take a breath between sentences. You'll sound more coherent."
"Well, you did scare the life half out of me." She retorted
swiftly. "Creeping up on me like that. Where I come from, no
gentleman would scare a lady like that."
"Where I come from, there are no gentlemen." The man returned
swiftly. "There's hot water if you want some coffee or tea or
something." He turned to go and Ainsley found herself reaching
out a hand.
"Wait a minute. You know who I am, but you are...?"
"Toby Ziegler." The man told her.
"Oh, so you're Toby Ziegler. I've heard of you." Ainsley said
impulsively, then bit her lip. What could she possibly say to
him? She had been warned not to cross swords with him; he was
probably the living example of everything she disagreed with
about the Democratic Party, as well as being awesomely well
informed about everything.
"Yes, I see you have." Toby responded, with a small smile.
"Don't worry. I don't turn into a werewolf until Saturday
sundown, so you're safe for another few hours."
"What are you doing here so late?" She asked curiously.
"Same thing you are. Working." Toby replied. "I thought you
didn't start until Monday."
"I don't. I just thought I could get a leg up on the job. I was
reading the past few months of requests, so I could cut short the
learning curve and do a good job sooner."
"Working yourself to death won't impress anybody, you know."
"No?"
"No. I do it and nobody notices." Toby said dryly. "If you
want coffee or anything, there's some of those instant flavoured
coffees on Bonnie's desk."
"Won't she mind?"
"She'll blame me." Toby shrugged and turned to go.
"Mr. Ziegler?"
"Yes?"
"I know that most people here aren't happy with me being here,
but I wanted to assure you that I am going to do my job."
Ainsley said earnestly. "I am not going to keep my opinions to
myself, nor am I going to pretend that I approve of this White
House, but I am a loyal citizen who is willing to serve the
President in any way I can. Furthermore..."
"Miss Hayes." Toby interrupted her. "It's nearly two in the
morning and I have a speech to finish. I will barely have time
to go home and change before I have to be at temple, so spare me
the long speeches. Your motives are of no interest to me. If
you don't do your job, I expect Leo to fire you. And if you keep
me here any longer chattering inanities, I will save him the
bother and strangle you myself."
"Temple...?" Ainsley echoed weakly.
"I go to religious services, Miss Hayes, as I expect you do as
well." Toby said impatiently. "I would normally have gone home
and finished the damned speech tomorrow morning, but that would
have meant missing the service."
"You're Jewish."
"With a name like Ziegler, did you expect that I was
Presbyterian?" Toby asked, slightly amused. "Are you really as
much of an idiot as you sound right now?"
Ainsley straightened her spine and her temper flared.
"I do not require your approval of my conversational style.
Furthermore, how dare you judge my intelligence in one
conversation? Are aware how condescending and rude you are right
now?"
"Yes." Toby replied promptly. "I didn't say you were an idiot, I
said you sounded like one. If you actually listened to what
people say to you instead of rehearsing what you are going to say
next, you might find more people willing to take you seriously."
"Like you?"
"No, Miss Hayes, I won't take you seriously until such time as
you start talking sense instead of slogans." Toby retorted.
"There may be merit in your arguments, but it gets lost in the
rhetoric. I've read your articles and I'm afraid they don't go
into enough depth for me to judge whether you really believe the
rhetoric or whether you're just chanting what you learned at your
daddy's knee."
"You doubt my sincerity?" Ainsley challenged.
"Sincerity, no. Maturity of your opinions, yes." Toby said
promptly. "And before you start disputing me with more verbiage,
I remind you it is two in the morning and we both have work to
do. You'll have plenty of opportunities to fight with me later."
"Wait a minute. You called me immature." Ainsley shouted after
him.
"I called your opinions immature. I made no comments on you.
You don't listen very well, do you?" Toby replied, not coming
back. "And shouting after me in a dark corridor doesn't impress
me with the righteousness of your argument."
Ainsley sat down in the desk chair in frustration. She wasn't
going to run after him; she suspected he was laughing at her.
She was not chanting slogans. She had thought carefully and
fully her positions on many issues and she was willing to change
her position when confronted with a contradiction. She wasn't
some narrow minded redneck.
It took nearly ten minutes for her hands to stop shaking long
enough to pick up the folder in front of her and nearly that long
to get her concentration back.
She read for a while, telling herself that the shadow she saw out
of the corner of her eye was nothing. She saw it move several
times before it annoyed her long enough to get up and look. She
saw something near the wastebasket and moved it to get a better
look. Something furry with whiskers scurried across the floor
and she screamed, fleeing in terror.
By chance, she ran down the hall toward the only other source of
light; Toby's office.
She practically fell into Toby's arms, meeting him as he got up
to investigate the screams.
"Miss Hayes, are you all right?" He asked, as she clung to him.
"A rat." She gasped out. "I saw a rat. In the outer
offices..."
"Damn." Toby looked resigned. He led her into his office and
shut the door. Depositing her on the couch, he perched on the
edge of his desk and picked up the phone, punching in some
numbers.
"This is Toby Ziegler in the West Wing. We have a rat. Again."
Toby said into the phone a few moments later. "I know it's two
thirty.... Get someone up here and find the damn thing and where
it's getting into the offices... We have millions of dollars of
computer equipment with chewable wires, so yes, it's a
priority.... Do you really want to deal with Margaret on
Monday?... How do you think she'll find out about it? I'll tell
her.... Yes. Yes, the offices will be vacated."
"They're going to come up now?"
"Last time we found a rat, Margaret had conniptions. It was not
a pretty sight." Toby said, with a reminiscent smile. "Pack up
your files, Miss Hayes. They need us out of here so they can get
rid of out furry interloper."
"You've had rats here before?" Ainsley looked shocked.
"It's an old building and it's built on a swamp. Of course it
has rats." Toby replied. "Get your stuff. I'll walk you out."
Ainsley retreated to the doorway, unwilling to go back there with
that furry... thing... running loose. Rats made her skin crawl.
Toby said nothing to her, just packed up his files, stuffed them
and his laptop into his briefcase and took his coat off the coat
rack.
Ainsley felt a great deal safer with him standing there as she
hurriedly shoved her files into her case nilly willy. She'd
straighten them out when she got home.
"Mr. Ziegler, I am not normally so..."
"Squeamish?" Toby actually grinned. "Don't worry, I've seen
worse. Sam's afraid of spiders and Ginger gets wigged out by
centipedes."
"And what are you afraid of?" Ainsley challenged.
"Republicans. You guys scare the hell out of me." Toby said
idly. "Do you need a ride anywhere?"
"No. I have my car."
They walked in silence through the quiet corridors and out the
door toward the parking area. Ainsley went to her car, feeling
Toby's eyes on her until she got in and closed the door. She
started up and waited for the car to warm a little before putting
it in gear. She saw Toby pull out, heading out of the parking
area and put her own car in motion.
"Rats." She said to herself as she turned onto the street. "I
work in a place that has rats." She shivered, a little ashamed
of showing weakness in front of one of them. Of all the people
who had to see her at a moment of weakness, it had to be Toby
Ziegler. It was well known that Leo McGarry did not suffer fools
gladly, and that Toby Ziegler did not suffer them at all. She
felt like a fool.
Still, he had been rather nice about it all. He hadn't made fun
of her for being frightened.
He had, however, called her opinions immature and criticised her
nervous habit of talking too fast when anxious. Well, she didn't
need his critique of her verbal skills; his sardonic insults were
every bit as bad. Nor did she need his condescending attitude
towards her beliefs. Smug, arrogant and patronising, the lot of
them. And he was the worst. She would do a good job, she vowed.
She would show him. She'd be intelligent, well prepared, polite,
calm and ladylike, but show him she would.
END