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.

"Sir? The vice president."

The president turned in an absolute fury. Russell stopped, wondering what he'd done now.

"Bob," said the president, seemingly puzzled. "Of course." He shook his head and smiled. "I'm sorry. We're having an interesting week."

"Yeah. Will said you wanted to know... it never happened to me. You?"

"No. Not me, and not Abigail, who would probably have killed him without any help from the rest of us. Not my girls, thank God."

"You said 'him.' Who's 'him?'"

"We've identified a number of perpetrators, and terminated the ones who still worked for us."

"And the others? I mean, I've seen the papers, and I don't believe C.J. let the kitchen help slap her around. Whoever did that ought to be boiled in oil. Who was it?"

"It's a continuing investigation, and believe me, Bob, I do not want to screw this one up. I want that man under the worst hell-hole of a jail left anywhere in the country."

"How long are you going to pursue this?"

"As long as it takes."

"There are mid-term elections coming up."

"And you're concerned that we look like a party full of victims?"

"I'm concerned that we are a party that hasn't purged itself of perpetrators."

"So use it. Run with it. Once you're actively campaigning, call for all the investigations you want. Call down the hounds of hell to run him into the ground. I'll stand and applaud, but don't ask me to do anything to jeapordize his eventual conviction."

"You know that this is going to take over the presidential campaign? No one is going to talk about any issue at all when there's something as juicy as sexual misconduct in the White House. You're going to have seven guys debating alone in New Hampshire while the press camps at C.J.'s door. How am I supposed to...?"

"For starters, I don't believe it actually happened in the White House. For seconds, C.J. can take care of the press. Thirds, maybe it should be an issue. Maybe we need stronger legislation to protect people from predators like this. Maybe we need to educate the public a little. Maybe we need...."

"...to fit our sisters and daughters with chastity belts and lock them in towers to protect them from the evil in the world?"

"There you go. What did you need with my speechwriter, if you can do that off the cuff?"

"Well, seeing as I'm going to spend the two years until the 2006 election denying that I'm involved this, I'll need someone to come up with nine million different ways to say it, and to explain why I'm not doing anything about it."

"What could you do?"

"If you'd tell me who the guy is, I could go punch him out."

"Would you?"

"Yes! Of course I would! You think beating up on a sex offender is going to alienate a constituency I want any part of? Let me at him, Jed. Give me the name."

"I can't do that. I can't, and when you figure it out--and you will figure it out--I want you to promise me that you will leave it to the investigators. If you use it against him during the campaign...."

"If I use it against him? Is he going to be running?" Russell went through a mental rolodex of possible opponents. Who...?

"I think this meeting is over."

Who among them would have had continual access to White House staff? Right. No wonder Bartlet had been ready to rumble when his aide announced the vice president.

"Hoynes."

"Don't do it, Bob. You'll make him a martyr."

"I'll make him a pile of scraps too small for carrion birds! How could he do this? How could he turn this party into a laughingstock?"

"I'm having a hard time with the concept of the party as victim, here. We've got people who've been frightened, people who've been embarassed and humiliated, people who've been physically hurt and psychologically traumatized. I don't think you want to position yourself as putting the party's interest ahead of theirs."

"Of course not. I'm sorry. I... this took me by surprise. We need to be thinking about compensation for the victims and about putting... the guilty party where he can't hurt anyone else."

"We need to keep our mouths shut and build a case."

"If his name comes out, all bets are off."

"Understood."

"Well enough, then.

"Good, and thank you. Bob, I'm expecting my senior staff."

"Then I'll leave you to it." He let himself be walked into McGarry's office, nodding to Josh and Toby and Leo. He stopped beside C.J. and took her hand.

"Look, I just want to say that when you come up with something that will hurt this fool half as bad as he hurt you, you tell me, all right? You tell me, and I'll make it happen."

She smiled, and exchanged a glance with Toby. A handful of interns and assistants in the doorway grinned like maniacs before retreating from Bartlet's glare.

"I mean it," he continued, still holding C.J.'s hand. "This is a promise, from me to you: he's going to hurt for this. You hear me?"

"I hear you, sir," she said. "Thank you."

Russell turned and watched as C.J. followed her colleagues into the Oval Office. His eyes shifted, and met the president's. Oh, yeah, he was going to stay out of this. Right. Nothing on earth would make Bob Russell yield the limelight at the beginning of election season. The vice president nodded once, sharply, and stepped out the door.