Fandom:

The West Wing AU

Pairing:

C.J./Danny

Rating:

PG-13 for topic

Distribution:

How much do I owe you for hauling it off?

Spoilers:

Up to and including Full Disclosure, from which the series follows on

Email:

exfilia at livejournal dot com

Disclaimer:

if I owned them, they'd have a lot more fun

Warning:

mentions nonconsensual sex

Note:

Hoynes lovers should probably be hitting delete right about now.

"I'm back," said Julia from the open door to Marc's room. "What kind of trouble did you guys get into?"

"We didn't kill anybody," said Quentin.

"Although the temptation was there," Cecil added.

"Is Danny that bad?" their sister asked. "I mean, Hogan likes him."

"Hogan," said Marc, "is a motherless teenager in boarding school whose only nearby relation is a glamorous aunt who...."

"Who what?" said Quentin.

"Blows people away. Hogan, and maybe Danny too. And maybe this other guy."

"Marcus!" said Cecil. "Do you know...?".

"What guy?" asked Julia.

"Yes, I know, thank you!"

"Wait a minute! Have mercy on the one that was discouraging future debutantes from careers in aviation!"

"Doing what?" said Cecil.

"You don't want to know. Now what guy?"

"John Hoynes," said Quentin.

"You met...? Is there another John Hoynes?"

"From the way Mr. Seaborn reacted, this was the right one," Cecil said.

"You met him?"

"Yeah," said Quentin, "and that's maybe not a good thing."

"How's that?"

"He implied," said Cecil, "that if he were elected President, our Commander in Chief would not smile on anyone named Cregg."

Julia sat down on the bed.

"That was only after Cecil was rude to him, though," said Marcus.

"Rude to him?" said Julia. "Rude to the man who... and don't you ever suggest again that our sister brought this on herself, or I swear I will stuff those eagles up your ass and pull them out your nose!"

"I didn't say that. I just said the guy acts... strange. He acts like he doesn't think he did anything wrong."

"That doesn't mean he didn't," said Quentin.

"I'm just saying it's weird," said Marcus.

"I think we can all agree to that," said Cecil before Julia could start again. She scowled, then thought the better of it.

"You were rude to him?" she said to Cecil.

"I'm afraid I might have been," he said.

"Good for you." Julia leaned over and kissed his forehead.

Toby caught the cat before it got out the door, but had to set down his briefcase to hold it.

"Ellie! Come get this monstrosity!"

"In a minute! I'm changing clothes!"

"For what?" he said, kicking the case inside and closing the door.

"For my man," she replied, standing in the doorway clad in a lacy pink fringed robe and apparently very little else. Toby breathed once, then twice, and then remembered that he was holding the cat and dropped it. Ellie spun in place, and the robe flared, and Toby made himself breathe yet again.

"You didn't have to...."

"What?"

"Wear that."

"You'd rather I not wear clothes?"

"Eyw." Toby picked up his case and set it beside the sofa.

"What did I say?"

"Nothing. Just for a moment there, for the first time ever, you sounded like your father."

"Ee-yew."

"A little off-putting, especially in that outfit."

"People usually say I'm more like my mother."

"Not going to think about that image, either."

"Toby!"

"Sorry. It's been a bad day."

She slipped an arm around his waist, and again he suppressed a vision of her parents.

"What's wrong?"

"Never mind."

"No, tell me." The backs of her fingers stroked his cheek. "Let me share it. It's what I'm here for."

He kissed her hair and held her close. What the hell? So she took after her parents. They'd been married thirty-five years. Maybe they were doing something right. He sat on the sofa, pulled Ellie down on his knee and told her about his day.