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.

"Where's C.J.?" aske Leo.

"Fitting," said Danny and the president together.

"Brilliant. We get hit with the biggest crisis of the campaign, and half the staff is out getting trussed into taffeta. And you," he said, pointing at Danny, "try to suppress the urge to answer any more questions, will you?"

"If I hadn't answered him, he would have been suspicious."

"How long did you work in that room? You think he's not suspicious anyway?"

"Leo," said the president. "Danny, did you tell him anything that could be construed as a lie?"

"Don't think so," said Danny.

"Oh, God." Leo sank into a chair and covered his face with his hands.

"No," said Danny. "He said there was a rumor that I was missing an intern. I took him out to our bullpen and pointed out each of our interns. Then he said it was some girl Charlie was seeing. I don't think Charlie's actually seeing her. I mean, that kind of thing could ruin his career...."

"And God forbid," said Leo, "that any man in this building ever do anything with a woman that could ruin both their careers!"

"Yeah. And Mitch said he thought the Republicans had the election sewn up, and I told him not to count us out."

"And?" asked the president. "You're telling me he didn't have a followup to that?"

"I told him I'd tell him when I could."

Leo flopped back in the chair, his eyes closed.

"I was trying to distract him from the Tracy thing!" said Danny.

"Yeah," said the president. "You know that if he twigs to this, C.J. is out of a job right then? And you knew that we were trying to keep her here as long as we could?"

"Mitch has a one-track mind. He's got his teeth into the kidnapping. He's not even thinking about the election."

"He's a White House reporter," said Leo.

"Not much of one. He cares more about getting his face on C-Span than knowing what's going on."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said the president.

"I am sure," said Danny. "Due respect, sir, but I've worked in this building longer than the two of you put together, and I know when the room has something and when it doesn't. It's going to be all right."

A silver-haired man with a very sharp nose leaned over Dorothy Alastair's desk.

"Hi! Mitch Kowalski, Time magazine."

Dorothy smiled, all the while checking the doors. Reporters weren't supposed to wander into this part of the building unsupervised.

"How can I help you, Mr. Kowalski?" she said.

"You're the Secret Service agent assigned to the Amy Gardner kidnapping?"

Dorothy smiled at him in a way that indicated no possibility of rapport whatever.

"I can't comment on an ongoing investigation."

"It is ongoing, then?"

"I really don't have anything for you, Mr. Kowalski."

"What about the other girl that's disappeared?"

She didn't miss a beat.

"What girl?" she asked.

"Right. I guess I'll just sit over here and wait for my appointment with Butterfield."

"That might be best."

He settled into one of the plastic chairs where they usually detained suspects, crossed his arms and sat watching Dorothy. Okay, she couldn't leave without arousing his suspicions, and she certainly couldn't use the phone in front of him. She tapped the email icon on her desktop, and typed Charlie Young's addy into the address field, and then, in the body, three words:

"Is Tracy okay?"