Author: Cindy Brewer

email: cindyryan7@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: I don't own them but Thomas Moss is mine

Spoilers: What Kind of Day has it Been

Summary: The night of the shooting Donna receives a much needed call
from her older brother

Author's notes: Many thanks to Amanda for her help on this. And this
hasn't been beta read so forgive any grammatical errors.


Lieutenant Thomas Moss was exhausted as he trudged wearily into his
quarters. The red haired young man dropped his gear unceremoniously
on the floor and collapsed face first onto his bunk not bothering to
take his boots off.

Iraq had been moving their artillery around in the last few weeks
that meant Thomas and the rest of the pilots had been working
overtime flying more missions than normal to protect the no-fly zone.
Just when sleep had been about to overcome Thomas there was a sharp
knock on the door.

"What?"Moss asked more sharply than he had intended to.

Lieutenant j.g. Mark Johnson poked his head into the room. "Sorry,
Tom, I know you just got back but I know your sister works at the
White House."

Cold icy fear raced up Tom's spine as he shot up from the bunk. "What
happened at the White House?"Moss demanded as he stalked over to the
blond man in his twenties.

"Well it wasn't exactly at the White House...."Johnson began
awkwardly as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Mark....."Tom said warningly not liking the possible scenarios his
overworked mind was coming up with. "This is my baby sister we're
talking about so stop beating around the bush and tell me what the
hell happened!"

"There was a shooting."Johnson replied as he sat down on the small
trunk at the foot of Moss's bed.

"Where?"Moss asked hoarsely as he turned to face his friend.

"Bartlet was giving one of his town hall speeches at the Newsum in
Arlington."Johnson replied still not quite believing the newscast he
had watched barely twenty minutes before. "Some nutcase started
shooting at The President and his staff as they left. Bartlet's
unhurt but nobody knows anything else there's been a media blackout."

Thomas leaned back against the wall shocked by what he was hearing.
He was supposed to be the one shot at it was part of his job, not his
sister.

"Was Lyman there?"Tom asked shakily knowing that if the Deputy Chief
of Staff had been there his sister wasn't far away.

Johnson shrugged. "All the news report said was that most of
Bartlet's senior staff and his daughter had been at the meeting."

Tom swallowed hard as he glanced at the small clock on the
wall. "I've got a flight in two hours can you take it for me? I've
got to try to get through to D.C."

"No problem."Mark replied as he stood. "I hope she's okay."

"She has to be."Tom whispered struggling to get a reign on his fear
as he turned and left his quarters.

*********

In the carrier's communication room it took Thomas four tries to get
through to his parent's house in New York. Another five long minutes
before his mother could locate the direct White House number Donna
had given them when she first started working there. His mother told
him that she had been trying that line and hadn't been able to get
through.

Tom assured his mother that Donna was fine and probably just swamped
with work and hadn't yet had a chance to call.

After hanging up Moss gave the young black haired ensign the phone
number.

"It's busy, Sir."The young man replied after a few moments.

"Keep trying."Moss ordered as he leaned against the back of an empty
chair for the first time in his career wishing he wasn't stuck on a
carrier in the middle of the Persian Gulf. His sister needed him and
he couldn't do a damn thing except make a phone call.

"Yes,Sir."The ensign replied as he straightened his headphones and
dialed again.

**********

Four hours later they still hadn't been able to get through to
Washington. The Ensign turned to face Moss placing the headphones
around his neck.

"You don't have to stay here, Sir."The youth offered. "I can page you
as soon as I get through."

Thomas shook his head. "My sister could be hurt somewhere. I'm not
moving until I know she's okay."

The Ensign nodded as he replaced his headphones. "Yes, Sir."He turned
back to Moss. "You do know it's three a.m. in D.C., right?"

"I don't think anybody's getting any sleep tonight, Ensign."Tom
replied grimly.

The Ensign turned his attention back to the consol in front of him
and he dialed the number again.

*********

Donna Moss sank wearily down into her chair in the communications
bullpen of the West Wing of the White House.
It'd been a hell of a night and it looked like the day wasn't going
to be any better.
Most of the Senior Staff had thankfully been unhurt but they were
still waiting to hear on those who had been taken to the hospital.

Charlie had been hit in the right shoulder
Sam had been shot in the stomach while trying to protect C.J.
Toby had several cracked ribs and a broken collar bone.

She glanced at her boss as he sat behind his desk trying to do spin
control. Josh hadn't said a word to her about the shooting and that
worried her.
Donna knew he was worried about Sam who was still in surgery....she
just wished he would talk to someone if not her.

Suddenly the phone at her desk rang causing her to jump three feet.

"Hello?"Donna greeted wearily.

"Thank God."A familiar voice replied. "You have no idea how worried
I've been about you, Donnakins."

"Tommy!"Donna exclaimed as she recognized her older brother's
voice. "I'm sorry I should've called you."

"Are you alright?"Moss asked as he leaned against the wall pressing
the phone tighter to his ear.

"I wasn't there."Donna replied softly as she turned to look at Josh.

"That doesn't mean you weren't affected by it."Tom countered worried
about the strain he heard in her voice. "Lyman's okay isn't he?"

Donna nodded. "Yes......oh Tom, it's been such an awful night. Two of
my friends were shot...."

Tom closed his eyes hating the fact that his sister had to be exposed
to violence like this. "Are they okay?"

Donna sniffled the tears starting to flow again. "Charlie's okay the
bullet only grazed his shoulder. But Sam's still in surgery......"

"Donna, I wish I could tell you that everything will be fine."Tom
replied quietly.

"I know."Donna whispered as she reached for a kleenex. "I'm glad you
called...you don't know how good it is to hear your voice."

"I just wish I was closer."Tom replied as he pushed himself away from
the wall. "Call Mom and Dad as soon as you hang up with me they're
very worried about you."

Donna nodded. "I tried earlier but the line was busy."

"I'm sorry but I have to go."Tom stated with frustration. "I have a
flight in ten minutes."

"Please be careful."Donna pleaded after everything that had happened
that night she couldn't bear it if her brother was hurt as well.

"Always."Tom replied with a grim smile. "I'll try to call you
tomorrow to see how you're doing."

"Thank you for calling tonight."Donna stated knowing how many favors
he had to pull in.

"You're my baby sister, Donna."Tom replied quietly. "I'll always be
here when you need me. I gotta go.....talk to you soon."

"Bye."Donna said quietly as she hung up.

"You okay?"Kathy asked as she approached her friend's desk.

"Yeah."Donna replied as she stood seeing the stack of papers in the
dark haired woman's hand."What do you need?"

Kathy handed her half the stack. "Leo wants Josh to double check this
draft."

"Okay."Donna replied as she started toward Josh's office. She paused
and turned back to her friend."Any news on Sam?"

For the first time all night Kathy smiled at the mention of her
boss's name. "Hospital just called. Sam came out of surgery just
fine. The doctor's expect him to make a full recovery."

Donna closed her eyes briefly. "Thank God."She replied quietly."Do
you think things will ever be the same?"

Kathy shook her head sadly. "No."

"Neither do I."Moss replied as she turned and walked slowly toward
Josh's office. "But I was hoping they would be."


End.