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.

Josh had his eyes closed and his phone to his ear, his expression one of intense concentration.

"What do you mean," he said, "'for the patient's own good?' Do you know what they're doing to these little girls? No, the alternative is not broken glass in a dirty hut. The alternative is not doing it. Cultural values are not an issue, here. Somebody took our money to build the places where they butcher their daughters, and we're... hello?"

"They hung up on you?" observed Donna.

"Cheeky sons of bitches."

"It didn't sound like the negotiations were going particularly well."

"How do you negotiate something like that? I mean, they took our money to build those clinics, knowing they were going to do something there that goes against everything we believe in."

"Don't we put restrictions on the use of money for purposes we don't believe in? I mean, there are some things clinics can't do."

"Yeah, right, you can't do an abortion, but you can... this is sick."

"So why didn't we?"

"What, Donna?"

"Why didn't we restrict the use of our foreign aid money to clinics that don't do genital mutilation, just...."

"Could we not use those words?"

"...just like we restrict it to clinics that don't have anything to do with abortion?"

"We should have. It wasn't this administration."

"The ultimate cop-out."

"How is that a cop-out? None of us were here. We didn't do it!"

"We can't protect adult women in this building from John Hoynes, but we expected our predecessors to stop a deeply rooted cultural practice on another continent?"

"Oh, no."

"Josh?"

"The First Lady's going to have a fit."

"What now?"

"We can't go public with this, not before the midterms."

"And the children that this happens to between now and whenever we do go public just don't matter?"

"Donna...."

"How old was your sister when she died?"

"Now, that's not fair!"

"Okay, what if Amy's baby is a girl? Would you let someone...."

"I wouldn't let someone do it to anyone!"

"But winning the election is more important than stopping it?"

"Donna, if we don't win the election, we can't stop this, or anything else."

"Joshua, if we don't stop it, then we're a part of it."

"Hi, some of you know me. I'm Will Bailey. I'm now through some fluke of fate a deputy press secretary, and if I get anyone's name right today, I apologize and I don't mean to single you out. Okay, fourth row, third seat from the left. That's my left. Yeah, you."

"Where's your boss?"

"Meeting with the First Lady and an outside advisor."

"About anything in particular?"

"Wedding gown. Down in front with the red tie, yeah, you."

"Any statement on the Deburri mutilation clinics?"

"They're a bad thing."

"Is the administration planning to do anything about this bad thing?"

"I don't know. You write for a newspaper. Are you going to do anything about it?"

"I write for Time magazine, and we don't make public policy."

"You could have fooled me. A plan of action will be released in the near future, but noboby's shared any details with the new guy. In the back with the intensely pink notebook, yeah, you."

"Anybody leave a goat in your office this time?"

"Not yet, but when it happens I'll be sure you're included in the experience."

"Strapless."

The First Lady shook her head.

"C.J....."

"Hey, when I was a little kid I used to sit around drawing this thing. I know what I want. Strapless, basque waist, full flared skirt."

The designer's pencil danced over his pad as she spoke.

"Juliet cap with a veil down to there and a blusher in front. Make it long, too."

"It's going to make you look taller," sighed Abbey.

"I'm not going to look height deprived no matter what I do. Yeah," she said, looking at the sketch, "and a train out to there."

"How are you going to dance in it?"

"Detachable," C.J. said. The designer nodded and kept drawing.

"What about fabric?"

"Chiffon."

"C.J....!"

"White chiffon with a wide satin belt and a big bow in back. Maybe tulle for the train and the veil."

"No lace, or pearls?"

"Too busy. We'll put the bridesmaids in lace."

"You just won't let a girl be a part of anything, will you?" Abbey pouted.

"Maybe not, ma'am," said the designer with a smile, "but she sure makes my job easy." He held up his pad.

"Yeah," said C.J., "just like that."

"You know," said Abbey, "that might not be so bad after all."