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.

"Nancy!" said Leo as he and the president entered the situation room. "I knew somebody wasn't at the party."

"It was not a party moment," she told him, adjusting the front of her ball gown to conceal a bit more cleavage. "Mr. President, about forty-five minutes ago a group of NGA workers in Deburras was kidnapped by parties as yet unidentified. The group included two Americans."

"Unidentified? No one's taken responsibility?"

"Not a word."

"Isn't that unusual?"

"And we heard about this within an hour?" asked Leo.

"They raided a food distribution center," said Nancy. "They demanded to see passports and selected certain persons to accompany them. The others called their home office as soon as the hostiles left the area."

"So what's going on?" asked the president.

"The situation presents a number of possibilities."

"Such as?"

"One: the perpetrators aren't well enough organized to communicate with foreign governments. In this case, we'll hear from them through local intermediaries within a couple of days. Two: they believe we know what they want, and they're trying to avoid the usual knee-jerk response about not negotiating with terrorists."

The president snorted.

"They blew that one," he said.

"The third possibility is that we're not the target."

"Somebody else has pissed off the Deburris?" the president asked.

"The Deburri administration pisses easily," said Leo.

"Is it them?"

Leo glanced at Nancy, who shrugged.

"While extralegal action by some faction of Deburri officialdom is not unthinkable, we have no evidence that this is what has occurred."

"Nancy," said the president, "do we know where our people are?"

"We will know within a few hours."

"How?" asked Leo.

"Deburras is economically depressed in the extreme. We'll have people lining up to help us."

"They'll sell out their own people for the price of an S.U.V.," said the president.

"More like the price of a toaster," said Nancy, "and let's be thankful for that."

"You could have stayed at the party," Josh told Donna.

"The party pretty much fizzled. What's going on?"

"Don't know yet. Leo and the president are still downstairs."

"Yeah. Are you peeved about the picture?"

"What picture?"

"Josh!"

"Hey, I've had other things on my mind! Did you pose for Hustler, or something?"

"With Toby." she hissed.

"You posed for Hustler with Toby? When's it coming out? Okay, Donna, don't hit me. Just don't. Just... just tell me what picture!"

"We got lost in L.A.," said Toby from the door. "We got home for the night just before the press bus left for the airport."

"And there are pictures?" grinned Josh.

"Andi left a message on my machine," said Donna. "She cares."

"I'll talk to her," Toby said from the doorway. "I'm going to have enough problems with the relationship I'm actually having."

"You're having a relationship?" asked Josh. Toby ignored him.

"What have we heard about Amy?" he asked. "Anything?"

"No," said Josh, "nothing but the picture, unless...."

"Unless what?" asked Donna, taking his hand.

"The First Lady's holding out on me," he said. "She's driving me nuts playing mother hen, and it's probably got something to do with Amy."

"I hope it's good news," said Donna.

"She'd tell me if it were," he said. "She's in full-blown 'protect-her-chick' mode, and somebody's going to bleed before she's done."

"Oh, God!" said Toby, and walked, shaking his head, toward his own office.