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.

She didn't look up at the knock on the door. She just said "Briefing in twenty minutes," and continued making notes on the day's agenda.

"Are you going to name John Hoynes?"

She set the paperwork aside and looked up at Katie Witt.

"As what?"

"The man who raped you."

"Excuse me?"

"He was, wasn't he?"

"What makes you think that?"

"He was in Bakersfield on the night in question at a party fundraiser you attended."

"There were four hundred thousand other people in Bakersfield on the same night."

"There are pictures of the two of you together. You look...."

"What?"

"You look like Cinderella dancing with the prince."

"I don't think that shoe fits particularly well."

"I'm only asking because...."

"Because that headline on the front page of the Constitution would eliminate the small population of Democrats left between Florida and Virginia?"

"Because that's what it felt like when he did it to me."

"Katie...."

"It was him, wasn't it? He was the one?"

"I can't comment on that."

"He commented."

"I beg your pardon?"

"He said everything the two of you did together was consensual. Do you have a comment on that?"

"You asked him...?"

"My researcher did. I don't talk to the sleaze. So is that the way it happened?"

"No comment, and I've got to get ready for the briefing."

"Suit yourself, but you know you'll hear it again out there."

"And again, and again, and never mind issues that actually matter in real people's lives."

"You want to talk about affecting people's lives, C.J.? Try this one: if you had named Hoynes ten years ago, this might not have happened to any of the rest of us."

"That's not fair."

"Tell me about it. I'll go, now, and let you get ready for your briefing. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"Toby? We need Josh to brief again."

"You've been--I believe the president's words were 'trampled by stampeding bison?'"

"By a madwoman from Atlanta. They've got Hoynes's name."

"How?"

"Katie said it happened to her. She's going to ask me to confirm or deny."

"And then all hell breaks loose. Damn Danny!"

"What did he do?"

"It was his idea to leak it this way!"

"What way?"

"By asking each and every one of the emotionally vulnerable and psychologically fragile members of that pack of piranhas out there if they'd been sexually harassed while working at the White House. He said once they were on the scent the whole thing would come out and we'd never have to point a finger at anyone."

"Well, he was right!"

"We didn't think they'd have the name right off! We never imagined Hoynes had been stupid enough to fool around with a reporter!"

"It doesn't sound like it was 'fooling around.' Katie's pretty messed up over it."

"Is there some reason Katie hasn't filed charges?"

"One, she may not think anyone would believe her. Two, she'd lose her job. She's supposed to be covering the guy, not...."

"Ooh, a conflict of interest! We all know the dedicated professionals who work in your press room would never get involved in that kind of thing!"

"Toby, isn't there something we can do to him? I mean, isn't there a law?"

"Nobody is accusing him of quid pro quo violations--of what they did with him affecting their jobs. We haven't found any other cases where things turned violent, and trust me, we were looking."

"Including Katie?"

"I didn't do her interview, but I think we'd have heard. The worst we have is that his behavior generated a hostile work environment, and he doesn't work here any more."

"So he's going to get away with this?"

"You want me to lie to you?"

"I thought we were trying to make a case!"

"We were. We can't. That doesn't preclude any victim from suing for damages, including you."

"Oh, the DNC would love that!"

"So maybe it is a quid pro quo thing, to keep it quiet... nah. That's the DNC. We want Hoynes, turning on a spit while we baste him with boiling barbecue sauce."

"As much pleasure as I'm going to get out of that visual image, Toby, Carol gave the two minute warning four minutes ago."

"What the hell? I'll do the briefing."

"Toby?"

"What? What are they going to do to me? I never made out with John Hoynes. Give me the damn book, and go tell Leo what's going on."

"What are you going to say when Katie asks you where I am?"

"That you were called into conference with the Chief of Staff, which is where you'd better be before Leo sees my smiling face on the monitor. Go! Go now!"