Author: AJ

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Notes: Thanks to Jenn and Rhi, who I went to saying "I want to write a Nancy
story, but don't know what," and with their combined help, I finally got an
idea! Thanks to Jen and DC for reading this for me and letting me know it's
not totally stupid. :)

Summary: How Nancy became apart of the Bartlet group. (Nancy, for those of
you who don't know, is Mrs. L's assistant...)


As a baby she never did much crying. As a little kid, she rarely talked. As a
teen, she pretty much hung out by herself. Some called her a loner, for she
was rarely ever seen with anyone. But for Nancy Reerdon it just seemed second
nature to be that way.

Perhaps this was due to her upbringing. One of six children, her voice was
often quieted, so that one of the others could be heard, or because her
parents were sick and tired of the noise. They seemed loving enough, however.
They did a few things together every now and then. Went on family vacations,
went on picnics. Nancy was always ignored, though. She was the farthest
apart, age wise, from everyone else. Her three older siblings were all two
years apart from each other. She came about six years later. And then four
more years after her, her mom had two more kids who were one year apart. So
there she was, stuck in the middle, and always left alone.

As a teen, she began to see the advantages of being so left alone and labeled
as the quiet one. Her parents never really questioned anything she did. If
she wanted to go and do something, it was okay. Of course, she never wanted
to do anything. For a little bit of time, Nancy was close with her mother.
They talked all the time about different things, and Nancy actually believed
her mom and her knew a lot about each other.

Over time, Mrs. Reerdon could see the need that Nancy had for friendship, and
however much Nancy tried to deny it, she knew her mother was right. The more
that she pushed her daughter into socializing, though, the more Nancy
withdrew from it all and the further apart her and her mother grew. Finally,
her junior year of high school, she decided to join a club. The National
Honor Society. It was there that she met her best friend for life, Elizabeth
Bartlet.

Elizabeth Bartlet was quite the opposite of what Nancy Reerdon was. She was
energetic, athletic and very outgoing. She was the oldest of three girls, and
came from a very involved family. Liz, as she was called by everyone except
her father, was a very popular person. She was the class president, captain
of the softball team, president of NHS, the french club, and a few other
organizations in school.

The day that Nancy joined the NHS, she sat in the very back of the classroom
and quietly paid attention to everything that went on. When it was time to
go, however, she was unable to make her usual quiet exit. As she approached
the front of the classroom, she bumped into Liz on accident and all of their
things scattered about all over the classroom.

Nancy apologized profusely, even though it was only partially her fault. She
bent over right away and began to pick the papers and things up. Liz frowned
and got down as well, helping her to pick the items up. Upon doing so, Liz
came across several personal papers that belonged to Nancy and could not help
but to get a good look at them.

Some of the things she'd dropped were drawings. Sketches she'd done just for
fun. Very detailed sketches, very artistic. There was also a letter that Liz
seemed drawn to. It was addressed to "Whoever cares" and it talked about
Nancy's feelings. How she felt like she didn't belong to her family, to her
school, to anything, really. How she just felt so alone, as if nobody in his
or her right mind would care for her.

She didn't say anything that day, and she honestly had no clue if Nancy knew
that she'd been able to read the letter, but from that point on, Liz tried to
learn as much as she could about Nancy. During NHS events, she would try to
engage the blonde haired woman into conversations about anything and
everything. It was a slow process, very slow, but eventually Nancy opened up
to Liz and the two were inseparable from then on.

They went to the same college where Nancy got a degree in history and a minor
in government and international affairs. Liz went the opposite way and
majored in government and international affairs, minoring in history. The day
that they were supposed to march across the stage and become college
graduates, Nancy received the news that her mother had passed. Her father
having been sick for years, was unfit to care for himself, nor her two
younger sisters. And the three older children were all already married, so if
it was going to be anyone, it would have to be Nancy to go home and help out.
This meant a separation for Liz and Nancy.

During college, Liz met the man of her dreams and ended up bearing his child,
just to be abandoned by the father six months into the life of their baby. It
was tough, but she managed to finish college with her baby. And afterwards,
she moved out of state and got a job working in a history museum. When she'd
heard of what was going on with her friend, she decided to do what she could
to help her out.

Nancy always knew that Liz's family was very close and very loving. But, she
never did meet them. That is, until, Liz called her father and asked him to
employ Nancy. Jed decided to please his daughter and hire Nancy to his team.
Nancy seemed content to be a secretary for Jed, for she so enjoyed the
longtime secretary that he had, Mrs. Landingham. The elderly lady became a
grandmother figure for Nancy. The two worked so well together, and slowly,
Nancy opened up to her as she had done with Liz.

Over time, Jed watched the budding relationship between the two secretaries.
And he eventually found himself being sucked into their circle, as the
father. Mrs. Landingham became the grandmother, Jed was the father, and Nancy
was the child. Nancy and Liz remained the best of friends, keeping in
constant contact with each other, through the phone and what not, Liz being
Nancy's sister.

Shortly after her two younger sisters graduated from college and moved out on
their own full time, Nancy's father died, freeing Nancy from all obligations
she felt she had. This tragedy as some would call it turned out to be a good
thing for Nancy. It was right around the time when Jed Bartlet decided to run
for President, and this freed her up to join his team and help out as much as
she could. The team being her family. The family she had longed for her
entire life.

Although still a very quiet individual, Nancy found that she had a place. She
belonged. Not just to a team of people serving at the pleasure of the
president, but to a family. She had her place in life, and not only was she
good at it, but she loved it.


The End.