Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

January 20^th, 2007

Inauguration Day

8:05 AM – The West Wing, White House Chief of Staff’s office

Josh walked right through security in the main atrium like he owned the building, he ket an even pace as he worked his way through the familiar corridors and walls. He has exactly one person he needs to see at this moment in time…well actually two, but the second one was locked in meetings with her staff and he had to put her aside for the moment. The marble floors loudly echoed as he walked down the deserted corridor.

As the future White House Chief of Staff approached his future office, he could hear a pair of voices gently discussing something. “Do you think he should sign it?” The voice of the outgoing White House Communications Director is easily heard through the open doors, CJ’s voice was too muted for him to hear her reply…but it was clear the tone in Will’s voice made it clear he was unimpressed by her none answer. The rest of the discussion is about the train derailment at the New Hampshire/Massachusetts border, Will’s voice carries more readily than CJs but he can pick up the gist of it. These two had wrapped up their last bit of governing before the Bartlett Administration comes to an end. “Hey! Nice job on Granny ganja,” the incoming CoS said. “I thought you would have gotten a little more of a rise out of them on that.”

“Yeah me too!” The wistfulness in Will’s voice was hard to miss, it’s clear to everyone in the room that William Bailey actually enjoyed being a human piñata on C-SPAN for the last few months.

“Did you do the flak jacket note yet?

“A little writer’s block.”

“Just…make it funny.”

“Right,” Will sighed as he turns around and heads out of the office. “Let me know if he signs it.”

Now it is Josh’s turn to be bewildered, he looks at CJ expectantly. “Signs what?”

“You’re a little early.” The former press secretary-turned-chief of staff decided not to answer her friend’s question, it would be a little fun for her to leave a small (okay, actually a pretty damn big) headache for his first day on the job. She watched as he slung his backpack over to his side while sitting down in the chair opposite her desk, next to her pet goldfish. “The Santos’s went to church, so I got an hour to kill before I gotta go to the capitol,” Josh finally takes his seat as he looks at CJ. “I thought I’d drop by and take one last stab at trying to get you to stay on.”

She sighed before she placed her hands on the desk in front of her. “9:30 tomorrow morning, Dules to LAX with three glasses of bad Merlo and an Ambien. But thanks for asking.”

“Danny?”

“Waiting at LAX with a tub of sunscreen.” They trade small chuckles before CJ continues. “Sooo…Baker for VP, you’re going to have quite the battle up on the hill.”

“Yeah we’re hoping Vinick at State helps grease the skids a little.” He looked around the office slowly. “Do you ever stop thinking of this as Leo’s office?”

A sigh, “No,” she practically whispered.

****

10:00 AM – The Presidential Guest House

The Dillon Room

Donnatella Moss had just wrapped up her staff meeting to discuss what the events leading up to the inauguration, they’d agreed that a sperate meeting would be held in the West Wing after Matt Santos was sworn in. The nausea that the “lithe” blonde felt had to do with the fact that she was briefing her own staff on the day her boss, the First Lady-elect, took over her office in the East Wing. When she’d wandered to Joshua Lyman’s desk about ten years ago in Nashua New Hampshire, she would have never believed that she’d be the Chief of Staff for anyone…let alone the First Lady of the United States; or, if she was honest with herself, that Joshua Lyman actually felt the same way about her as she had him.

During their week off in Hawaii, the bastard actually remembered, he had poured his heart out to her. It was during that moment that she had found out Josh had fallen for her a couple days after she had fallen for him. Donna smiled gently as she had played with the wedding band on her necklace while thinking about it.

The decision to elope on the beaches of Maui really had not been that hard, the press would have been all over the wedding in DC and it would have been an absolute political circus. In fact, they had agreed that the public ceremony would be that way; but Josh had insisted on a private and quiet one first so that they could have their moment after nearly a decade of waiting. It had been one of the most romantic and heart filling moments of her entire life. A knock at the door pulled her out of her reprieve as Annabeth poke her head through the door, “Donna, The President- and First Lady-elect are back.” The pixie woman, as she liked to call herself, watched as her boss slipped what looked like a necklace with a ring on it back into her shirt. “They’d like their respective chief of staffs to join them as they meet with the Bartletts.”

“Thank you, Annabeth. Tell Mrs. Santos I’ll be right there.” As she stands up another wave of nausea hits, and she tries to grab the arm of the chair she had just been sitting in but fails miserably. The next thing she knows she is sitting ass first on the floor while Annabeth and Ned are running into the room. “I’m fine,” Donna say’s more forcefully than she meant too. “I just slipped.”

“Are you- “

“Yes”

“Do you- “

“No, Ned. I’m fine, thank you.” She says through gritted teeth. “Please let the First Lady-elect know I’m on my way.” At this the chastised staffer turned and headed out of the room while Annabeth helped her boss to her feet. Quietly, she hands Donna the glass of water on the table to make sure her boss is actually okay; she turns around and starts to walk out of the room before turning around to look at her boss. “That’s a lovely wedding ring Donna.” Donna doesn’t even get a word out as the pixie that used to run the Taylor Reed show leaves her alone with her mouth agape in this ridiculously green room.

****

10:07 AM – Pennsylvania Avenue

After thanking the Guest House staff, President-elect Matthew Santos walked hand in hand with his beautiful wife across the street to their future home and office. Their children had elected to fly back to Houston for the day to keep their grandparents’ company. Helen’s father still couldn’t travel after his bought of pneumonia and the kids wanted to be with him during this historic moment, Helen had been more than happy to agree as it would keep the kids out of the cold for at least another day.

They slowly made their way across Pennsylvania Avenue and towards their soon to be home. It made Helen Santos feel distinctly uncomfortable. It had been nearly 13 months since Josh Lyman showed up at her family’s home in Houston and pitched his nine-point plan to her husband. Now he was about to be sworn in as this country’s 44^th President; it felt surreal how quickly things had escalated. She could tell her husband had similar thoughts due to how tense his shoulders were and the way he would sneak a glance at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice. That struck her as rather adorable, but it also infuriated it her because he’d somehow done what she’d scoffed at 13 months ago…he’d actually become President-elect; within the next three hours he’d become President of the United States.

Matt stopped them in the middle of the street, they bantered about potentially running off to a foreign country, which country she really can’t recall but they both know that’s not really an option anymore.

Ron Butterfield and their protective detail slowly guided them through the gate and into the White House. Just outside of the main entrance to the Residence, the President and Dr. Bartlet stood side by side in anticipation of their arrival. Throughout the transition, Helen had gotten a brand-new appreciation for Dr. Abigail Bartlet and everything she had put on hold as her husband became the leader of the free world; the two women had begun to form an unlikely friendship between them. Abbey had not just given her advice on how to run the East Wing but also how to help manage her relationship with the Press…the current FLOTUS had also gone on more than one rant about stubborn jackasses that are too smart for their own good, whatever that meant.

All that means is that the hug Dr. Bartlet gave Helen was genuine in its warmth and affection. “So have either of you heard anything from Josh or Donna about their trip to Hawaii?” Helen recognized that tone of voice, it meant that Abbey had delicious gossip…and she wanted in.

“No, why have you guys?”

“Not yet…”

“But?”

“Let’s just say that my husband is a nosy son of a bitch. And when you combine that trait of his with public records slowly being transferred from paper to digital...”

Helen stifled a giggle behind her hand. “I take it that you know who won the betting pool?” The solemn nod from Abbey is all she gets before Jed pulls her into a hug; the outgoing President and First Lady-elect exchanged brief pleasantries before she quickly takes her place by Matt’s side so that they are properly posed for the photos. After a couple of quick pictures, and a public exchange of gifts, the two couples head inside.

“Mr. President,” the amusement in Matt’s voice was easily apparent to his wife, “You look like a dog that’s just been given a new bone.”

“That’s because I have Mr. President-el-“

“You two are both pompous assholes,” Abbey rolled her eyes towards Helen before she continued. “You do realize that, right?” Both Matt and Jed nod seriously which left the younger woman in a fit of giggles.

“What do you think that makes us, Abbey?” Helen couldn’t help it, “Afterall, we did marry them.” That set Matt off, his boisterous laugh echoed through the Yellow Room as they take their seats. The look on Abbey’s face clearly says it all, betrayal; but then, after a beat, the current FLOTUS tossed her head back and laughed. “So, your lovely wife was just telling me that you pursued Hawaii’s public records, Mr. President.”

“Did she now?” Jed quirks an eye at his wife before he turns back to the first couple-elect, “I did indeed Mrs. Santos.” The other three pairs of eyes roll and the President was unable to hold in a chuckle. “Just those that are available on the internet, that is. It turns out that a Mr. Joshua Lyman and Mrs. Donatella Moss married on November 22^nd, 2006, in Maui County, Hawaii. I did not recognize the name of the officiant or the witnesses. Which tells me it wasn’t done at the county courthouse so it might have been at a private venue.”

“Did you really look up the names of the Maui County Superior Court in order to see where they were married sir?” The only response Matt got was a raised eyebrow from his predecessor and a heavy sigh from Abbey, “You are a major nerd, Mr. President.”

“And don’t you forget it.” For the next ten minutes or so, the conversation drifted around the topic of the elopement and when they thought Josh would slip up – because let’s be real, it could only be Josh. Then it unfortunately drifted to matters of state, what could be expected for the rest of the day. After they’d drunk the last of their cups of coffee, the two couples made their way towards where the motorcades awaited them. It was there that they ran into the couple they’d just gossiped about.

“Mr. President, Dr. Bartlet.” Josh gave them a soft smile and nod as Donna greeted their bosses. “Mr. President-elect, Mrs. Santos.” Pleasantries and hugs were exchanged before Jed and Matt climbed into their limo with Helen and Abbey in theirs; while Josh and Donna get into a black suburban just behind the car that carried the FLOTUSes. Without another moment to spare, the motorcade took off for the Capitol and towards history.

Chapter Text

January 21^st, 2007

 8:05 AM - Residence of Joshua Lyman and Donna Moss

Josh groggily came to on the day after the Inauguration immensely grateful it was on a Sunday. He felt the bed shift to his right as his wife, good god she’s his wife, gripped tightly at her lower abdomen before she unsteadily rose to her feet. That has him concerned, “Donna, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a really bad cramp love.”

“Oh…” While he may be an adult male, he figures he knows what that means, “Is there anything I can do for to help? ”

“My heating pad, it’s in one of the boxes.” Actually, it’s not. Josh moved it to the closet in the master bedroom shortly after he’d discovered it upon their arrival from Hawaii.  He’d wanted to make it easily accessible and not something that she’d have to dig for when she needed it; and right now, he is so damn glad that he made that decision. Not only did Josh grab the pad, but he also made sure to grab a couple of Tylenol for Donna. Afterall, one thing he’d learned from their conversations in Hawaii and nine years of observation is that she absolutely hates to ask for help of any kind unless it’s necessary.

Donna was curled tightly into a ball when he got back to the bed and he could hear her whimper, he plugged in the heating pad and gently handed it to her. While she pressed into her lower abdomen, Josh went to the kitchen and filled up a glass of water before he brought her the pain meds. He wanted to laugh when she attempted to refuse them, but he just fixed her with his best glare…which it turned out wasn’t the best strategy.

“Joshua, you can’t try to bull-“ he sticks his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“I just want to help.” His voice is a soft whisper and he’s relieved to see her mouth soften a bit. She nodded and took the water without further protest. When they were in Hawaii it had taken a great deal of argument to figure out what had broken between them after Gaza and it became clear that neither of them particularly knew how to handle it. Donna had admitted she hadn’t seen anyone after she’d ‘finished’ physical therapy which completely surprised Joshua. After his PTSD diagnosis, along with his multitude of physical health issues after the shooting, she’d hounded him to make appointments…but when the time came for her to do the same for herself she had not. There is a part of him that can’t help but blame himself.

Donna had tried to tell him that that thought process was ridiculous when he’d sat her down to discuss it around Christmas – never a good holiday for him. But he couldn’t help but feel he’d ignored her pain after the bombing in a way she had not after Rosslyn. And that absolutely ate at him, no matter how much she tried to convince him that it was equally her fault for the decision to hide it from everyone that knew her at the White House.

“You with me, Joshua?” She whispered softly. “It looked like you were elsewhere in your head there.”

“I’ll always be with you, Donnatella.”

****

7:53 AM – The President’s Bedroom, The White House

First Lady of the United States Helen Santos had laid in bed for roughly the last hour unable to fall back asleep. Her husband and her had gotten back to the Residence at around three in the morning. They had tried to talk Josh and Donna into using the Chief of Staff’s bedroom in the residence but they both just wanted to get home after the day was over. Neither of them had admitted to the marriage, no matter how much booze or champagne they had drunk but it wasn’t hard to miss the soft smiles or constant touches they shared either.

Once they’d gotten back to the White House, she still couldn’t think of it as her home, it hadn’t taken long for either of them to get undressed where they both fell asleep quickly. Unfortunately for Helen, she’d had a difficult time managing to stay asleep. It was something she’d struggled with throughout the transition, the fact that they’d done it and were inevitable going to end up living in this building. She desperately hoped that it would feel more like a home once the kids arrived from Texas that afternoon.

Helen rolled over and noticed the time, there was no chance that she would get back to sleep and the kids were due back in a couple hours. She got up and went to check that their rooms were still in order, which they were.  Then she had an idea.

Slowly she made her way down the grand staircase and out to the portico – her Secret Service agent shadow made her flinch. The cold DC winter air slammed into her once the Steward’s opened the door for her. But FLOTUS was determined. Why where there so many damn doors? Eventually, Helen turned to her shadow and asked for directions to her destination; the knowing smirk on his face made her unhappy to say the least but she didn’t want to chastise him after he’d just helped her.  Without further ado, she worked her way to the destination where another Secret Service agent opened the door for her.

And now she stood, in her bathrobe and pajamas, in the Oval Office…completely and utterly alone. Not only had no one stopped her, she’d had been aided by the Secret Service on her way to this very room. Helen Santos couldn’t help it, she giggled.

“Ma’am?” The concern in the voice of the other woman in the room was palpable. Helen spun around and locked eyes with a tall woman with auburn hair. She’d have thought that the day after the Inauguration would mean that most staffers, in fact most of DC, wouldn’t be awake at this hour. But here she was completely embarrassed to be caught by a staffer that looked vaguely familiar but she hadn’t met yet.  

“Errr,” and because it was really an automated response at this point the First Lady stuck out her hand before she stated, “I’m Helen Santos. Nice to meet you.”

“I know who you are Ma’am, I’m Margaret Hooper the Senior Assistant to the White House Chief of Staff.” At this Helen realized why she recognized this tall woman. Anytime she’d interfaced with CJ’s office throughout the transition she’d interacted with her…but why was she in the West Wing on the Sunday after the Bartlet Administration had wrapped up? “I was going over the details of Josh’s schedule when I heard the door open. Since the President wasn’t scheduled to be in the Oval I thought I’d come check if everything was okay.”

“Are you a mind reader then?”

“Part of the job description Ma’am.” The solemn nod almost sends Helen into another fit of nervous giggles.

“I take it you’re staying on then?”

“For a bit.” At that Helen nods, she can deal with that for the moment.

“Is there any particular reason you’re in today? I didn’t think Josh would be coming into the office this morning.”

“Just because the boss isn’t in, doesn’t mean there isn’t work to be done. Especially with the international situation being what it is.” Before a response could be formulated, the door to the portico opened again and Margaret stood (if possible) stiffer, “Good morning Mr. President.”  

He nods at the other woman, “Margaret, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Is there anything I should be aware of?”

“No, Mr. President just making sure the office was ready for Josh tomorrow.” He eyes her cautiously before he nods. Which Margaret took as a dismissal, “Goodbye, then.” With that she closed the door to the Chief of Staff’s office and disappeared from view.

“Is something wrong honey?”

“I-I just had this thought that no one would stop me if I wanted to walk into the Oval Office-“

“And you wanted to try it?” Helen smirked at her husband. As they continued to banter back and forth, he slowly walked behind the Resolute Desk and she noticed the mischief that was clearly present in his eyes. Her throat went dry so she quickly suggested that they take this back to the Residence.

****

8:08 AM – The White House Situation Room

“Have there been any incursions on the ground?”

“Not that I’m aware of, yet.” A folder gently fell to the table with a soft thump as the whirr of computers and the projector provided the only background noise in the tense atmosphere. “But we also have to keep in mind that the area is insanely remote which has made it harder for troops to get into position or maintain consistent contact.”

“Satellite interference?”

“Not evidence of that Colonel, my gut says it’s the lack of satellite coverage over Kazakhstan. Last I heard several units had to revert to their short-range radios.”

“Alright then, let’s make the call then.” A junior officer slips out into the reception area. It only took a couple of moments for the phone on the wall to ring. After a quick discussion between the Colonel in charge of the watch and the Lieutenant on the phone, he’s patched through. “Mr. Lyman, this is Colonel Jacobson with White House Situation Room.” There’s a quick head nod before Jacobson continues, “There’s been a development in Kazakhstan.

Chapter Text

January 21^st, 2007

8:55 AM - The White House Situation Room

“Let me see if I understand the situation,” Josh’s hand slipped through his hair as he carefully eyed the officers on the other side of the table. “The Chinese Airf-“

“The People’s Liberation Army Airforce, Mr. Lyman.” The cool stare Josh sends back at the Col. doesn’t have the same effect on the Army officer as it did on Representatives in the House.

“Understood.” There’s a beat of silence before Josh continued, “The Airforce did flight exercises within three miles of the no-fly but staid on the Chinese side of the border and didn’t cross into it.”

“That’s correct sir.”

“Please, save that for the President.” That earned a half-hearted chuckle from someone in the shadows. “Have the Russians responded yet?” Col. Jacobson shook his head. “Does intelligence have anything about them potentially responding.” Another head shake; for Josh, this felt like a complete and utter waste of time. Afterall, the Chinese Airforce is well within its rights to conduct exercises on its side of the border. Obviously the proximity to the Kazakh border and the no-fly zone is a concern, but they clearly don’t want to test the USAF if they don’t have too. “And there’s been no corresponding move on the ground then?”

“No, Mr. Lyman.”

“Please, call me Josh.” That’s the third time in the half hour he’s been in the Sit Room that Josh has had to ask the Colonel to refer to him by his nickname. It doesn’t seem that he will though, which irks him just a little bit. The White House Chief of Staff is about to ask why the fuck he was brought in then when it seemed clear China was just trying to gauge the new administration’s response to their provocations, when it hit him. It’s not just China that has to feel out the new administration, it’s also the men and women who work in the White House regardless of who is elected president…and that’s exactly what the officers in the Sit Room are doing at this moment.

They need to figure out what should be brought to his attention and therefore, potentially, to the new President’s. Josh was never involved in international situations until well after President Bartlet had been briefed on it. Honestly, it makes sense that they want to test him and that they have used such a low-risk event to gauge him.   

“I want you to add this to the President’s daily security briefing so he can discuss it with the Joint Chefs when he meets with them at 9:00 AM tomorrow.”

A small smile is what he gets, “Yes sir.” As Josh left the Sit Room, he felt like he had passed that particular test.

****

 January 22^nd, 2007

8:45 AM – The Oval Office

 “We got quiet a few questions on why we were nominating a Republican to be Secretary of State, as well as the status of the committee hearings.” Bram had spent the last few minutes with a rundown of the questions he’d received at his first official press briefing as the White House Press Secretary. “There was also a couple of questions on Kazakhstan.”

“And did you direct those questions about the military incursion to the DoD?” Matt noticed that Josh was able to let Lou ask that question. That had been a struggle for his CoS in the middle of transition, to let their department heads ask the question.

“Yes, Lou.” Bram rolled his eyes, which Matt took to mean that they’d already had this conversation before.

“All, right,” Josh quickly jumped in before an argument could break out to derail the Senior Staff meeting. “Sam, where are we on the confirmations.”

“Vinnick is the first one on the docket and it looks like his first hearing with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is scheduled for Wednesday the 24^th. Swain meets with Armed Services tomorrow, and that’s all the Republican Senate has scheduled for right now.”

“Only Vinnick and Swain?” Matt is not particularly happy with that development.

“Yes sir,” Sam sent a look towards Josh before he made the decision to tell POTUS what he expected to happen. “I got a call yesterday afternoon from a staffer with the junior Senator from Montana that I’m friendly with. He fully expects there to be a motion to replace the Senate Majority Leader within the next two weeks.”

“What the hell,” Lou jumped in. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“I just got confirmation from a Senate Democrat I trust.” He held up the note that Ginger had handed to them as they walked into the Oval.

“Didn’t they just elect Royce as the Majority leader a couple weeks ago?” This came from Edie. The quick nod from Sam made everyone nervous.

“Any idea on who they’re going to replace him in February instead of at the start of the new Congress?” Matt focused on Sam. Dependent on how this turned out, this could completely change how they had to approach their entire domestic agenda. As the conversation began to dissolve to an argument Matt saw Josh check his watch out of the corner of his eye; it only took a moment for him to raise his hand and get the room to quiet down.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we need to move on to the rest of our day.” Josh locked eyes with his deputy, “Sam, get one of your assistant deputies to look into this and get me an answer in the next day or two.” There’s a brief nod, “Edie and Lou, work on getting all our nominees to stay on message; and Bram…keep the press of this story as long as possible.” Everyone around the room quickly nodded their head in assent. “Alright everyone, the President has a nine o’clock with the Joint Chiefs…get to work.”

At that, Senior Staff stands up and works its way out to the outer office. Matt couldn’t help but notice that Josh had rushed everyone of the room with about three minutes to spare. “You’re doing a lot better about delegation, Josh.”

“You’ve got to in this job.”

A knock on the door and then Ronna opened it, “Mr. President, the Joint Chiefs are ready to see you.”

“Send them in Ronna, thank you.” A few moments later, the Chiefs walked in through the door to the outer office. POTUS particularly fixed on General Alexander, the Chairmen was the member of the Chiefs least able to hide his emotions on his face – at least that’s what President Bartlet, no wait…Jed – had advised him. The General didn’t seem to upset so Matt begun to think that this might be a slightly easier meeting then the one they’d had on Inauguration Day…or at any point in the middle of the transition.

“Mr. President,” General Alexander begins, “I’m glad to report that the majority of our existing forces on the ground have checked in-“…At that point the report follows what he’d come to expect from the General throughout Transition. Apparently, there is an issue with the Air Force’s ability to get enough jet fuel to Astana because the tanker planes they use are mostly getting their flight checks and he’d like the President’s permission to harass the Navy into lending theirs. Matt just waits a tick before a raised eyebrow earned him a smirk from the Airforce Chief; that meant it was an attempt to get a rise out of POTUS. A snort to his left tells Matt that Josh finally picked up on the fact that the different service branches have a rivalry of sorts that continued past retirement.

It was, otherwise, a similar meeting to the one that they had had on Saturday. The biggest difference, that Matt noticed, was the fact that the the PLA’s Airforce had run a training exercise so close to the no-fly. He had expected Josh to react to that, but to his surprise the Chief of Staff just nodded as he listened to the briefing – maybe the freakout would come after the Joint Chiefs left.

But it would never come, when the Chiefs were dismissed, Josh just came to the seat to the right of his that faced the windows and began to discuss his takeaways from what was said. The President needed to figure out why there was no panic from his CoS, “Errr, Josh?”

“Yes, Mr. President?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but…I expected you to be asking about the PLA Airforce’s exercises near the No-fly.”

A quirked eyebrow was the only response he got at first, “Because of my lack of experience and knowledge in military areas?” Matt felt a little sheepish when Josh phrased it like that, but he nodded anyway, “I was called into the SitRoom yesterday and briefed on it.”

“They called you into the SitRoom for that?” A quick nod, “For a fairly minor test of the No-fly? They called you into the SitRoom…for that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s not something they should have called you in for…” That earned another smirk from the man on the other side of the desk and that kind of pissed the President off.

“I realized that Mr. President.” Josh raised his hand before there could be a response, “I also realized that these men don’t know me, and they need to figure out what situations to bring to me and when to bring me into it. I’ll take the lumps for the first month or two sir, it’s part of learning the job.”

“Is that what Jed told you?”

“He might hav-“

A knock at the door cut Josh off, “I’m sorry Mr. President, Josh.”

“It’s okay Ronna,” Santos stood up and waved her into the Oval. “What can I do for you?”

“The Acting-Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the USGS, and the Assistant Director of the Cascade Volcano Observatory are here to see you…they say it’s urgent.” Because protocol dictates that the Chief of Staff approves all unscheduled meetings and phone calls, Matt took a quick look at Josh. The worry on his CoS’s face made the President highly uncomfortable; it became clear that neither of them were ready for any conversation related to volcanos.

“Mr. President, Mr. Lyman, my name is Jonathan Smith and I’m the Acting-Secretary of the Interior. To my left is the Director of the USGS Dr. Malcom Hang, and to my right is the Assistant Director of the CVO…sorry the Cascade Volcano Observatory, Dr. Lilbet Frohm.” Matt was stunned when Josh froze at the name of the CVO’s Assistant Director; but what surprised him even more was that she seemed equally uncomfortable around Josh too. He really hoped this wasn’t another situation like when he brought Amy Garner onto the campaign.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the lie was evident to everyone in the room. “But what brings you guys into the Oval?”

“We’ve got a situation with one of the stratovolcanoes in Washington State, sir.” This came from Dr. Frohm, she seemed particularly nervous, so Matt tried to put her at ease with a gentle smile. But Hang cut in before she could reply.

“How much do you guys know about volcanoes?”

“I know it’s bad when they erupt…” A shrug from Josh was the only follow-up.

“Okay…” Dr. Hang took a deep breath, “Before I let Dr. Frohm explain the situation that brought us here, I want to give some general background information so you aren’t totally lost.” That get’s nods from around the room. “Each active volcano has it’s own magma chamber, now that magma isn’t just created in the chamber it comes from what we call a magma reservoir.”

“Okay,” Josh and the President nod to indicate that they have followed along thus far.

“There can be multiple volcanoes on one reservoir. In Washington State, Mt. St. Helens, Rainer, and Adams all share the same reservoir.”

“Isn’t St. Helens the one that erupted in the 80s?”

“That’s right Mr. President,” out of the corner of his eye Matt noticed a contemplative look on Josh’s face as Dr. Hang spoke. “Prior to her historic eruption on May 18^th, 1980 there was consistent seismic..er earthquake activity at the volcano. What most people don’t know is that there were several swarms also recorded at Rainier and Adams in the months leading up to said eruption. That’s because magma was on the move from the chambers under those volcanoes to the reservoir and then…”

“Into St. Helens?” Josh asked. This earned a nod from Dr. Hang.

“Now earthquake swarms aren’t necessarily big enough earthquakes for the human mind to register they’re happening. And they aren’t indicative that an eruption is imminent…they usually mean that magma is just on the move.” There are several nods in the room at this point.

“Hold, on.” Josh jumped into the conversation at this point, “Wasn’t Mt. St Helens on the local news when we were in Washington for the Democratic Caucus.” Matt took a moment to remember and then shrugged his shoulders.

In the end, it was Dr. Frohm who responded, “Yes, she’s had several small-scale eruptions since 2004-”

“Wait, what the hell?”

“Joshua,” Dr. Frohm hissed at him, “don’t interrupt me.”

Matt had to stifle a laugh as Josh looked sheepishly at her. “As I was saying, she’s had several small eruptions that haven’t exceeded VEI 0…er, that’s the Volcanic Explosivity Index and it’s the scale we use to measure eruptions. The VEI goes from 0 to 8.” Again, the President and CoS nodded to indicate they understand, “Okay, these eruptions started in October 2004 and have continued to the present day with the most recent being a steam plum on December 19^th, 2006 from the top of the new lava dome. Now outside of a light dusting of ash in the Portland metro area, and a couple of dustings in nearby Yakima, the majority of erupted material has stayed inside of the crater created by that 1980 eruption.”

“Why is that?” Matt was genuinely intrigued.

“Because Mt. St. Helens is rebuilding herself, Mr. President.” Dr. Hang jumped in to the conversation at this point.

“Ahkay,” Josh stated. “Are you guys here because the situation at Mt. St. Helens has escalated?”

“No, Mr. Lyman,” POTUS jumped because he had forgotten that Acting-Secretary Smith was in the room, “From what these two have told me about the situation at St. Helens, while fluid, is relatively stable.”

After a quick nod, Dr. Frohm picked up the conversation again, “There are five active stratovolcanoes within the State of Washington. Adams, St. Helens, and Rainier are the southern most three. Up north near the Canadian border, just southeast of Bellingham, is Mt. Baker.” She bite her lip nervously, before she moved on, “On the morning of January 19^th I was alerted to an earthquake swarm that was detected at Baker that lasted from 0630 to 0800. None of the quakes were detectable without seismographs.”

“Ahkay,” Josh nodded at her to continue.

“On it’s own, that isn’t particularly noteworthy. But there was another swarm from 1413 to 1508 that same day. I was then called into the office on the 20^th because of another swarm that had been detected from 0316 to 0455…there was another three swarms on that date as well.” Matt began to feel uncomfortable, “On the 21^st another four swarms were recorded in the vicinity of Baker. So I made a decision to reach out to my colleague with the Canadian Geological Service who monitors the volcanoes on their side of the border.”

“Let me guess,” The President ran his hand through his hair as he jumped into the conversation. “They’ve also seen an uptick in earthquake swarms over the last three days?”

“Yes sir, at two of their volcanoes near the border.”

“Lils,” the situation was so tense that Matt almost missed the nickname Josh used. “you said there were five active stratovolcanoes in Washington…correct?”

“Yes Josh.”

“We’ve discussed Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams…and I believe the fourth one mentioned was Baker?” Another nod from Dr. Frohm.

Matt did not like where this was headed, “What’s happening at the fifth one?

“The fifth volcano, Mr. President?” A nod, “That’s Glacier Peak sir…she’s located in the northeast corner of Snohomish County.”

“Lils…”

“Right, well then…I’m just going to be blunt Mr. President.” Matt nodded for the doctor to go ahead, “We don’t have a fucking clue.”

Chapter Text

January 22^nd, 2007

10:20 AM – The Oval Office, The White House

“What the hell do you mean, you don’t know what the fuck is going on at Glacier Peak?”  Josh cut in before the President could ask that very same question.

Dr. Hang shot a sardonic look at Dr. Frohm, which made Josh smirk, but Lilbet started up before Hang could, “I started with the CVO nearly 20 years ago Mr. President and stop trying to do math over their Joshua…it’s never been your strong suit.”

A splutter, “I was four!”

She smirked, “Anyway, I joined the CVO almost 20 years ago and about five months into my career I was assigned to the group that went out to recover the entire winter’s worth of data from GP’s lone seismograph…since my first trip out to the volcano, the monitoring situation has not kept pace with technological developments and there’s been no investment into it.”

Dr. Hang jumped in, “Dr. Frohm has been extremely…passionate about the situation at Glacier Peak. The situation we’re now in is what she’s termed ‘The nightmare scenario’ in multiple memos that she’s written over the last two decades.”

Matt bit back a groan, “And what is this nightmare scenario?”

“Glacier Peak is an exceedingly remote mountain right in the middle of the Cascade Mountain range.” Josh noticed a nod from POTUS, so Dr. Frohm continued, “There are no drivable roads within 20 miles of the mountain and it’s only accessible by a hiking trail through the mountains. That means that there is only one seismograph that is monitoring the volcano and it’s not wired into to any of our observatories.”

“And why is that Dr. Frohm?” Josh decided that this was not the time to use her childhood nickname.

“Congress hasn’t given us the money,” There was a noticeable cringe from the President, Josh would have to have Sam check in on his voting record when it came to the USGS, “it’s gonna take nearly a decade and a few billion to get it in…plus tens of millions in annual maintenance. Is just not something congress has invested in.”

“That still doesn’t explain the nightmare scenario Frohm.” The Acting-Secretary of the Interior seemed agitated…the White House needed to put a squeeze on the Senate to confirm their nominee if this is how he ran the department.

Dr. Frohm took a deep breath, “The trail is only passable in the spring and summer months, it’s buried under feet of snow throughout roughly six months out of the year. That makes our lone seismograph at the mountain inaccessible for nearly half of the year.” Neither Josh nor the President were able to bite back their groans at that moment. “During that same time frame that seismograph is also buried under snow.”

“How the hell are you supposed to monitor an active volcano without access to its seismograph?” Josh looked exasperated; the President surely felt it. Thank god his CoS was there so Matt didn’t lose his temper.

“We fly into the mountains on a helicopter and collect information on the gasses that GP is giving off. They also take laser measurements of the mountains surface to see if there’s any displacement or deformations. But…” As a pilot, the President knew exactly where this was headed. “This is Washington State, it rains 210+ days a year west of the Cascades…and the mountains spend even more time than that socked in by clouds.”

“So, it’s not safe to fly scientist to Glacier Peak for a lot of the winter either.” The sour note in Matt’s voice is impossible to miss. The grimace on Dr. Frohm’s face was enough to make Matt wince. But what came out of Josh’s mouth next caused Matt blood to chill by several degrees.

 “The situation you’ve just laid out to us,” Josh waved his hand to indicate POTUS and himself, “is that Glacier Peak could erupt with little to no warning in the fall and winter months.”

“That’s exactly right, Josh. And the volcano has been socked in by clouds since the 17^th.”

“That’s exactly the situation we’re dealing with,” Dr. Hang chimed in. “Right now, Glacier Peak is completely socked in by clouds so we can’t get eyeballs on it or check if the earthquake swarms that have been detected at Mt. Baker and in Canada are also present at GP.”

“Why hasn’t the Washington congressional delegation been banging the drum on this?” The President wondered aloud, “I mean this sounds like a pretty big fucking threat in their backyard, and they haven’t pounded the drum on improving the monitoring situation at an active volcano? You’d think they’d be getting a lot of heat from the…you said Snohomish County, right Dr. Frohm?” She nodded, “Right, well you’d think Snohomish County’s elected officials (at a minimum) would be very irate about the lack of monitoring at a volcano in their backyard.”

Dr. Frohm nervously bit her lip again, “I’m not a politician sir…but I the reality is that while Glacier Peak is the fourth tallest mountain in the state, to the average person her cone is visually undistinguishable from the mountains around it when looking at the Cascades from the surrounding areas.”

Josh dropped his head into his hand, it sounded like he mumbled “Out of site, out of mind” under his breath. A stiff nod from the Assistant Director of the CVO is all they get before a phone rings. “I’m sorry Mr. President,” Dr. Frohm said as she checked her device. “But I need to take this.” The President waved her out to the colonnade outside his office and look around the room for a moment.

“Sir,” Dr. Hang jumped in, “we need to talk about what could happen in a potential eruption from Glacier Peak and what the next steps are.” There was a brief moment of hesitation, but the President knew they couldn’t dodge this no matter how much he wished it so. He nodded so Dr. Hang began, “The good news is that because of GP’s location in the middle of the Cascades the pyroclastic flows should be fairly contained and not pose a threat to too much human life…err, a pyroclastic flow is erupted material that’s too dense to go vertical in the ash cloud. It’s insanely hot and moves at frightening speed; if you’re in the path of one, you aren’t getting out of it, as a rule of thumb.”

“So that should be contained within the mountains?”

“Yes sir, that’s what the geological record indicates.” Dr. Hang took a deep breath, “The ash cloud will be tricky, and Glacier Peak’s past eruptions have been explosive. To put it in perspective, her past three eruptions were on par with (or larger than) Mt. St. Helens’ 1980 eruption.” The President paled, “The ash cloud will definitely pose a problem for air travel and farming throughout the Midwest; but that’s not the biggest concern…”

“This country’s food security isn’t the biggest concern?” Josh quirked an eyebrow at that.

“No, Joshua.” An agent had opened the door to the colonnade and Dr. Frohm had reentered the conversation. “I apologize Mr. President, that was the Director of the CVO Matthew Henderson. He was briefing the Governor and the Director of the state’s emergency management services when he received an alert of another earthquake swarm at Baker. This one started about 15 minutes ago and is still ongoing.”

“You were saying that food security isn’t the biggest concern?” The impatience in Josh’s voice was hard to miss.

“We’ll…not mine or the USGS. It is something the White House should keep an eye on though…” Josh growled, “Mr. President, the biggest imminent threat from a GP eruption is her lahars.”

“What are lahars?” Thank god Josh can’t keep his mouth shut.

“Volcanic eruptions give off an extreme amount of heat. They melt any glaciers or snow on the peaks. Once those melt, they race down hills and through the river valleys those same glaciers have carved over the centuries…but at a much higher flow rate. In fact, nearly half of the 57 deaths when St. Helens erupted in 1980 were related to lahar flows.”

“Okay, well this doesn’t sound promising.” Josh muttered. “How many glaciers does a volcano need to have to earn the name Glacier Peak?”

“There are 11 on her slopes, Josh.”

“Oh God.”

“While I’m not Catholic Mr. President, I agree with the sentiment.”

“How many people live in the river valley near Glacier Peak?” Josh jumped in.

“140,000…give or take. But around half of them live on or near Glacier Peak’s historic lahars.”

“That’s still 70,000 people…”

“Yes, sir. Nearly 50,000 of them live near the mouth of the Skagit River in the neighboring cities of Burlington and Mount Vernon.” She locked eyes with the President. “And on top of that the City of Seattle will likely lose the majority of its electricity too.”

“How the hell?” Josh looked flabbergasted.

“In the mid-1920s, Seattle City light began to build a series of dams on the Skagit River in the North Cascades. These dams were completed by 1937 and are clear of the GP’s historic lahars…”

“I sense a but coming…”

“You’re correct, Mr. President. The transmission lines that get the electricity these dams generate to Seattle run right through the projected lahar zones. They weren’t built to withstand several thousand tons of melted glacier and volcanic material colliding with them.”

“I see why you’ve called this the nightmare scenario now…” Josh muttered under his breath.

“We’re gonna have to leave Seattle’s potential electricity issues in the capable hands of its Mayor and utility leadership, Josh.” The President fixed his CoS with a stare, “Right now we need to focus on how to best protect the people who are in the immediate danger of the volcano.”

“Yes sir,” Josh took a moment before he made a decision. “You need to get the Acting Secretary of State in here and briefed sir, this has the potential to be an international situation so they need to be aware. If Dr. Frohm will come with me, we can get White House staff up to date and begin to formulate a plan of attack…err, do any of you guys know if the weather is supposed to clear around Glacier Peak?”

“The Seattle office of the NWS predicts we’ll have a two- to three-hour window on the 24^th.” Dr. Hang replied.

“Right, we should probably get a conference call set-up for that window so we can be in the loop on what’s happening. Errr, the SitRoom is probably our best bet to coordinate this all through Mr. President.”

“Agreed, Josh.” Matt nodded, “Ronna!” The door opened to the outer office.

“Yes Mr. President?”

“I need the Acting Secretary of State here whether or not it’s convenient or him.” He paused, “And I also need the Governor of Washington on the phone ASAP as well.”

“Yes sir.” She quickly closed the door behind her.

“Acting Secretary Smith, Director Hang if you could please stay in the Oval with me. Dr. Frohm…if you could head into Josh’s office with him.”

They both recognized the dismissal and swiftly made their way into the Chief of Staff’s office. It didn’t take long for Josh to call out “Margaret!”

Apparently, Margaret had waited for Josh to come back because she immediately began to chastise him for how far behind schedule they were. But Josh quickly cut off the rehearsed speech, “Scrap the rest of my schedule for the day,” She started and locked eyes with him. “I need Ainsley, Sam, Lou, and Bram in here ASAP…also, I need to give the Canadian PM a call too. Errr, should probably organize that call first and then get everyone I listed into my office.”

“What the hell is going on Josh?”

It was Dr. Frohm that answered for him, “We’ve got an unmonitored volcano and a bunch of seismic activity in its vicinity.”

Chapter Text

January 23^rd, 2007

2:33 AM – The Residence of Joshua Lyman and Donna Moss

Donna was beyond nervous. Margaret had called her at around noon to let her know that Josh had to cancel their lunch; when she’d asked why, the only answer she could get out of the redhead was “He’s scrapped his entire day.” Not only that, shortly after that Annabeth announced that Edie and Bram had canceled their scheduled meeting about how to coordinate the West and East Wing’s message for the rest of the month. That had made her desperate so she had reached out to Ginger to talk to Sam…but he’d also scrapped most of his day and pawned off what he could on his new assistant deputies.

Mrs. Santos had only driven her worry to another level when she found out that the President had also canceled his lunch with her…which led to the revelation that his schedule had been scrapped as well. Josh had been called into the SitRoom on Sunday morning and now POTUS, along with his senior staff, had scrapped most of their schedules and pawned off what they couldn’t cancel to underlings…there was no way in hell Donna could sleep until she spoke to Josh.

Knock knock, “Mrs. Moss? This is Special Agent Hanover with the Secret Service…I’m just doing a sweep of the apartment before we let Mr. Lyman in.”

“Okay!” Donna quickly sat up on the couch as the door opened. She watched the agent efficiently sweep through the apartment and check each of the rooms. After about five minutes she nodded at Donna before she exited the apartment. It wasn’t long until Josh walked in through the front door, and he looked like hell.

He dropped his backpack to the floor near the door with a heavy thump before he tumbled onto the couch next to her. Before she could open her mouth, he spoke, “Did you know that volcanoes are socialist?”

“What the fuck Josh?”

“No seriously,” he ran his hands over his tired eyes and through his hair. “They share magma and shit.”

“Is there a thing with a volcano, Josh?” He nodded his head in an exhausted manor, “let’s get ready for bed love…you can explain it to me while we do that?” Josh didn’t resist as she helped him stand up and guided him to their bedroom. She waited a tick as he disappeared into the ensuite bathroom to change because she knew that no matter how tired he was he had to fill silence.

“We have a horrifically under monitored volcano in Washington State,” he began. “It’s neighboring volcanoes have had a bunch of errr…I think they were called earthquake swarms?, yeah that sounds right. Anyway, there has been increase in activity at its neighboring volcanoes, but we can’t check that one volcano because it’s too cloudy.”

“And what does earthquake activity at neighboring volcanoes typically mean, Joshua?”

“Their sharing magma with the volcano that is about to blow…I think? It’s been a long day and I really wish I had paid attention in high school science class now.”

“Did they teach you a lot about volcanoes in Connecticut, Pumpkin patch?”

She had followed him into the bathroom and gently wrapped her arms around his waist before she’d kissed the back of his shoulder softly. His brain visibly short circuited in response, “Errr…to be honest I don’t remember.” He took a deep breath, “Anyway I want…no I need Sam to be your office’s point of contact on this. I wish it cou-“ She placed a finger on his lips.

“Joshua, you have 95 different things on your desk at any given minute in the day. There are going to be times that you must delegate communication from the West Wing to the East Wing; and there will occasionally be times when I have to delegate communication from the East to the West. It’s okay, I understand.” Without another word she gently kissed the back of his neck. “So, I can expect to see Sam on my schedule tomorrow?”

The tension, while still present, had visibly lessened in his shoulders, “Yes hun,” he whispered softly. “He’ll probably bring Dr. Lilbet Frohm from the CVO with him too.”

“The CV…wait, Lilbet Frohm…why does that sound familiar?” She turned to look at her husband, but he had fallen asleep with his head pressed to the mirror and water pooled in the sink. After a moment she turned the tap before she guided him to bed.  

****

1:55 AM – The Residence, The White House

The First Lady was unable to sleep in the mansion. She and her Chief of Staff had been unable to get any updates from anyone in the West Wing that knew why the senior staff had dropped of the radar. She was stressed and based off the last text Donna had sent her that feeling was mutual. Helen decided to do what she would have done if she couldn’t sleep in Houston, she decided to bake cookies. It not only helped her relax but also gave her plenty for the next PTA bake sale; although she doubted she’d have to worry about bake sales for the next four years.

Her anxiety reached the point where she popped open her bedroom door and turned to one of the agents in the hall to ask where her husband was. To her surprise she found out that he had checked on Peter about ten minutes ago and was now outside of Miranda’s room.

Slowly, she stood up from her seat near the iconic window that looks out of the residence and headed towards her daughter’s room. It did not take long for her to see Matt’s silhouette pressed against the door frame to Miranda’s room with agents outside of it. He looked exhausted and nervous. “Matt…honey, what’s going on?”

He didn’t even turn his head in acknowledgement or jump in surprise at her appearance, “We have a volcano in Washington that the USGS can’t check on during the winter and its neighboring volcanoes are giving off all the warning signs that a volcano in the chain is ready to erupt.” She raised her eyebrow at his statement. That’s not what she’d meant, and he knew it; but for some reason he felt the need to obfuscate, “Sam and Dr. Frohm from the Cascade Volcano Observatory are going to brief you and Donna in more detail tomorrow.”

“How bad could it get?”

“Bad,” he never once took his eyes off Miranda.

“Matt,” he finally looked at her, “I’m glad you gave me the heads up on the volcano in Washington. But that doesn’t explain why the first thing you did after you scrapped your entire day was check on our children. Hell, you haven’t taken your eyes off of Mir-“it clicked then. “Oh, did Josh tell you about Joanie then?”

“Yeah…wait, how do you know about Joanie?”

“Do you remember when we met Hannah Lyman at one of our Florida stops, in that week before the election?” Matt nodded, “We were in the middle of mocking how Josh seems scared of children she mentioned that Josh had said Miranda reminds him of his sister…t-that’s how I found out.”

He grimaced, “You never said anything…” But there was no real heat behind those words.

“You know it’s not my story to tell, and as a parent-“

“-It’s not something you want to spend a lot of time thinking about either.”

Helen nodded, “How did it come up today?”

“The Assistant Director of the CVO was apparently Joanie’s childhood best friend.” Matt’s voice was softer than she’d ever heard it, “There was some tension between Josh and her throughout our meetings today. Once we got a moment without anyone else in the Oval, I asked him about it. I-I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be like when I brought Amy Gardner onto the campaign in the New Hampshire primary…he never mentioned exactly what happened between him and her, but I didn’t feel like pressing at that moment either.”

That, Helen thought, was completely reasonable, “Come on, Mr. President. Let’s get you some sleep, you look like you need it.” Both knew they wouldn’t get any sleep that night.

****

8:30 AM – The office of the First Lady’s Chief of Staff

There was a sharp knock on her door, then her Megan (her assistant) popped in to let her know that the First Lady was ready to see her. “Does she want to meet in my office or hers’s?”

“Yours’s should do just fine, Donna!” Helen walked into the room with a stiff smile on her face. If her night had been anything like Donna’s, she really couldn’t blame her boss.

“Good morning, Mrs. Santos.”

“Morning, Donna. What time did Josh get in last night?” While they had yet to tell anyone in the White House – outside of the secret service – that they were married, most people knew or had figured out that they were a couple.

“Around 2:30 ma’am. He had a nearly incomprehensible story about a volcano in Washington to tell me.”

FLOTUS nodded her head, “Same with Matt last night too. Apparently, we are to be briefed by Sam Seaborn and a Dr. Frohm today.”  

“It’s on our schedule for 9 o’clock today. Which is why I pushed back our staff meeting to 10 to give them time to get us caught up on everything.” Before Helen could chip in, Donna plowed ahead, “After our staff meeting I want to meet with the Director of the White House protocol office to see what our next steps are for handling a natural disaster/national tragedy…and we should also discuss ways for us to best support the efforts of the American Red Cross in the reli-“ there was a noticeable wince from the First Lady that stopped the younger woman in her tracks. “Ma’am?”

“Sorry, Donna.” She took a breath to steady herself, “When I was seven there was a major flood of the river in my hometown. Our house was damaged beyond repair, and we were able to get a space at the Red Cross shelter…”

“...but?”

“But it was a major pain in the ass to get any of the other aid that the Red Cross was supposed to provide us and ever since then I haven’t had a lot of trust in them…”

Donna bit her lip and took a second to think about her response as Mrs. Santo continued to ramble. Once the older woman took a breath, Donna chimed in, “The Red Cross isn’t the only disaster relief organization out there…” Helen quirked an eyebrow but waited for her Chief of Staff to continue, “That’s actually not a bad idea ma’am.”

“What’s not a bad idea?”

“I mean, whether or not this volcano erupts there will be other natural disasters that hit the United States while we’re in the White House. We could use your platform and visibility to promote these other organizations so that Americans who want to help won’t feel obligated to give to a charity that has religious symbology attached to it.” That caught Helen off guard, but the more she thought about it the more she liked the idea. But before she could answer there was another sharp knock at the door.”

“Ms. Moss, Mrs. Santos,” It was Megan. “The White House Deputy Chief of Staff and the Assistant Director of the Cascades Volcano Observatory are here to see you both.”

“Please send them in Megan.” Donna and FLOTUS stood, ready for the worst that nature could throw at them.

****

6:30 PM – The office of the White House Chief of Staff

“Margaret!”

“Yes boss?”

“Is there anything else on my schedule that needs my immediate attention today?”

“No, but Sam said he wanted a word with you before you left for the day.”

“Sam wants to see me?” The redhead nodded, “Send him in.”

“I’ll have to call his office.” Josh shoed her out of as an acknowledgment that’s what he wanted. He loaded a couple of his briefing memos into his backpack and stood by the corner of his desk. It didn’t take more than five minutes for Sam to get the call and then make his way over. Margaret quickly pushed him into the room before she closed the door behind the DCoS.

“How’d your second day as my Deputy go Sam?”

“It was busy,” He smirked, “We’ve got House leadership breathing down our necks about getting confirmations done in the Senate, education reform, and I also spent a good chunk of my day figuring out what to send over to the First Lady’s office.”

“Was that about the volcano?”

“Not really, I don’t have much material about Glacier Peak to send their yet.” Josh nodded, “Donna wanted a list of events the President had been invited too. It sounded like she wants to take some of those off our plates and use FLOTUS to promote the agenda.”

“I highly doubt it’s just to promote the President’s agenda knowing those two.” The fondness in Josh’s voice couldn’t be missed which caused Sam to smile softly.

“You’re probably right, Josh.” Sam started to fidget.

“But that’s not why you wanted to see me, is it?”

“No,” He looked his boss right in the eye. “My office is pretty confident that the right wingers in the Senate are going to move to replace Royce with Morgan Mitchell as the Majority Leader.”

“No…No! No No No nonononono.”

“Yeah.”

“Margaret! I need Lou and Edie in my office…and probably Donna.”

Chapter Text

 January 24^th, 2007

9:05 AM - The office of the White House DCoS for Operations

… “O’Malley I want you to work with Congressman Fields on his bill on lobbying reform. In particular, I would like you to work with him on our procedural options to get around the Speaker if he attempts to block this from a full floor vote.”

“Will do, Sam.”

“Next-up, we need to focus on damage control if the Senate really does move to replace Royce with Mitchell as the Majority Leader.” There is a collective groan that goes up among his Assistant Deputies. None of them were particularly thrilled when he dropped that bombshell on them at the start of their daily staff meeting. But he, and the administration, don’t have time for them to adjust mentally and emotionally. Senator Royce is a Republican, but he’s a moderate that doesn’t oppose taxes and regulation just because they exist. He’s someone that agrees with the President on multiple parts of his education reform package which means that he’s someone they can work with to get significant chunks of it through the upper chamber.

Senator Mitchell has repeatedly called Royce a RINO and hates him on spec. “Can you explain to me how this would work?”

It’s Lester that spoke in response, “Republicans conduct their leadership elections pretty much the same way we do.” Sam nodded at him to continue, “They’ll caucus in their cloak room and fight like cats and dogs. Then once they reach a majority consensus in there, they’ll come out to the Senate floor and put a motion to a vote, which is just a formality at that point. The GOP party whips are always good at keeping their members in line.”

“At least better than ours.” One of the other Assistant Deputies pointed out. But their voice was too quiet for Sam to identify who said that uncomfortable truth.

“Right…” He took a breath to steady himself, “Anyway, I want Winifred to work with Lester on this.” Sam noticed that Winifred and Lester had avoided each other’s gaze…was that a faint blush on their cheeks? “Oh, and Lester…she doesn’t like to be called Winnie.” Ohhh even more of a blush from Lester.

The conversation quickly moved onto the federal budget and Sam staffed out the gas tax. While the President, and Josh, weren’t fans of the proposal that CJ had talked President Bartlet into, Sam was of the belief that it was worth look. There was a concern raised among the ADs over the political cost of a gas tax when there was a clear need to increase the funds available to food stamps and other welfare programs because of the slump the economy had entered midway through the election. And that was a valid concern but Sam still wanted his staff to take it to the OMB and get a budget estimate then talk to some congressmen to see what their options were so he could present a clearer report to the President.

It didn’t take long after that for the meeting to wrap up. Sam’s next meeting was with the Director of FEMA for a standard briefing on the agency’s contingency plans for the upcoming tornado and hurricane seasons. They hadn’t yet brought him up to date on the situation in Washington State, Josh wanted to wait until they got eyes on Glacier Peak that afternoon to make a decision on when to bring him into the loop, so Sam didn’t bring it up yet. Honestly, there wasn’t really time to discuss it anyway as the Director pretty talked non-stop throughout the briefing. Sam struggled to keep up with where he was in the memo as they discussed evacuation routes in Florida for areas that they expected to be hardest hit.

His head spun as he realized how much bureaucratic red tape governed FEMA’s response to natural disasters. When he asked the Director about it at the end of the nearly two-hour meeting, all he got was a grimace and a muttered “It’s all Nixon’s fault”; there was a brief handshake and that was that.

Sam pressed his intercom, “Ginger, do I have a gap in my schedule to take a lunch?”

“You do, Sam”

“Do I have enough time to take my fiancé out of this building for lunch?”

“No.”

“Do you know if she has a gap in her schedule for lunch?”

“I’m not her assistant.”

“Well then,” Sam huffed. “Block off the next half hour. I’ll run down to the mess and get her something then head over to her office.” He stood up and walked his way to the mess. Throughout that walk he wondered how he could make the transition from communications to operations easier on Ginger. He needed someone he trusted to be his Senior Assistant and help managed the ADs and himself…but the move from comms to ops was a huge jump that even he had to admit was a struggle for him. Sam made the decision to pull her into his office when he got back and make sure she was aware that he appreciated how hard this transition would be.

Before he knew it, he had reached the mess. After nearly three years of dating, Sam was very aware of what she’d like for lunch, although the fact that the White House still lacked Fresca as a drink option still disappointed her. He also made sure to add a muffin to her lunch before he paid for both.

It didn’t take very long for him to reach the office of the White House Counsel from the mess. Fortunately, enough Ainsley’s assistant was more than happy to wave him into the office. “Good afternoon, baby.”

A groan, “Sam you know I hate it when you call me baby…”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then why do you continue to annoy me like that?”

“Because you’re cute when you’re annoyed.” A faint blush appeared on her cheek, “I brought lunch!”

“Oh, you’re a doll!” A slight smirk crossed his face as he set down her lunch on her desk and then began to unwarp his own. The couple ate in silence for a few minutes before Ainsley asked him the question he’d been dreading, “So have you heard anything from my friend in the Senate Majority Whip’s office?”

Sam nodded before he swallowed his food, “I did, and it’s not particularly good news.”

“They wouldn’t tell me Sam,” Irritation crossed her face. “And since you’ve been holed up for the last two days, I haven’t had a lot of time to talk to you about it either.”

The Deputy Chief of Staff set his sandwich down and rubbed at his temple. When they had agreed to move back to DC and get back into politics, they had setup a clear rule that they wouldn’t discuss their party’s strategy with each other; the issues and legislation that was on the floor of either Congressional chamber was fine...but not the strategy. It felt weird, to him, that he knew more about what her party had planned, and he was vaguely aware that this might cross the one rule they had set. But he also could tell she was worried, “It looks like Senate Republicans are going to move to replace Royce with Mitchell as the Majority Leader.”

“That fascist prick?!” Sam, unfortunately, had decided to take a sip of his pop when his fiancé said that. He had expected her to snort at his spit take, but instead she looked agitated. “He wants to appoint federal judges that will gut the 14^th amendment, he wants to end tribal sovereignty. What the fuck are they thinking?”

“Ainsley!” He was shocked that she felt this passionate about this.

“Sam, he’s an ass.” Well, he knew that “Not only will he grind the Santos Administration’s legislative agenda to a halt but he will also drag out confirming your cabinet appointments…and don’t even get me started on what he’ll do to the President’s judicial appointments. He’ll grind the government to a halt because he hates the fact that you guys won, and we didn’t.”

“You don’t like him…”

“No, not even close.” She took a deep breath, “He’s the absolute worst thing for the conservative movement because he doesn’t believe in the rule of law. All he wants to do is gain as much power for himself and his allies as possible. And he’ll go around democratic norms to do it.”

“Do you think he wants to be in the Oval?”

Her derisive snort of laughter didn’t make Sam feel good, “God no, he’d rather be the one to pull the strings in the legislature. Most Americans don’t care about who the Senate Majority Leader is or how that person can drag the government to a stop.”

“He wants the power, but not the visibility.” Sam set his glasses down on the table in her office near his lunch and rubbed his temple, “Well, this is bad on so many levels.”

Chapter Text

January 24^th, 2007

1:13 PM –the White House Situation Room

“Ten hut!”

The door swung open as President Santo entered the room at an easy gait; his Chief of Staff followed him with tension present in his shoulders. It was odd, Josh noted, to see this room packed to the brim but not have many of them be military people. Dr. Hang was seated in the spot usually reserved for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to the left of the President’s seat, while several other scientists were packed against the walls. On the display screen were photos of Glacier Peak on clear summer days in the Seattle area. It was the first time that either man had seen the mountain that had taken up space in their brains, rent free of course, over the last two days.

Josh thought it looked like a death trap. Matt believed he would have thought it pretty without any knowledge of what the volcano could do to his constituents.

“At ease, most of you aren’t military anyway.” That earned a few chuckles from those in the room, but the atmosphere was too tense for any real humor. Matt had peeked at the National Weather Service’s forecast for Snohomish County with his morning coffee and the former pilot in him had cringed. Even without the wind currents in the middle of the mountains, the gap that was projected had not given him warm feelings. But they had to get a peak at the volcano to see if there were any visible changes…even if that meant risking a Chinook with her cargo of volcanologist.

And that’s exactly what had departed from joint base Lewis-McChord about 30 minutes ago. The SitRoom, along with the Governor’s office, was looped into the ATC chatter with the chopper so they could have an idea of what they could see. Once the flight returned, the scientist from the CVO would fax over the pictures they took. Those would be grainy, but it would tide everyone over until they were able to hand deliver printed out copies tomorrow.

“How far out is the flight?”

“About ten minutes, Josh.” Dr. Frohm stood behind Dr. Hang. As the Assistant Director of the CVO, she would represent the Director in conversations in DC over the course of the crisis. Director Henderson was on the flight along with three other volcanologists responsible for monitoring Baker and Glacier Peak. There had continued to be an increase of earthquake swarms at Mt. Baker and the Canadian volcanoes; all three had been swarmed by scientist and they weren’t giving off more than background levels of Sulphur or other gasses…there also was a lack of displacement on the volcanoes surface. All of this indicated, according to the USGS, that the magma was headed elsewhere and not to any of those three volcanoes.

The fear was that when the chopper got to GP, there would be a visible bulge the size of what had been seen at St. Helens prior to her eruption on May 18^th, 1980. If that was present, then an evacuation order would have to be handed down and enacted immediately.

Governor Christiana Loveless was worried about how effective the order would be; the historically close gubernatorial election in 2002, and her subsequent blow out of the same opponent in 2006, had done little to endear her to the rural and conservative parts of the state. She thought it unlikely that they would listen to an evacuation order from her office with little to no warning in the media about the volcano prior to the order coming down. Josh had struggled to keep his head in the discussion (that was yesterday, wasn’t it?) of local politics and how Snohomish County’s executive board would be in a better position to get people to leave; but the conclusion he’d concluded that Washington State was far more purple than he’d ever been led to believe as a Democratic political operative.

“We’ve got a visual on the southside of Glacier Peak now.” The voice of the flight commander crackled across the speaker phone; the room collectively held its breath, “Director Henderson has stated that the south side looks normal. He wants me to do a fly around in a counterclockwise direction before we set down.”

The President nodded at the Air Force commander in the room, “Affirmative. Your alteration to the flight plan is approved.” The crowd listened as ATC confirmed they’d heard the comment, then the crew read it back. As the flight slowly rotated around the volcano, the south the eastern quarter was cleared of any visual displacements.

It was about halfway through the northeastern quarter that everything changed, “Director Henderson says there is a visual displacement between the 9,000- to 10,000-foot range on the volcano on its northeastern face. I can visually see a bulge as well. We’ll hover so they can get pictures.”

“What happened to setting down?” This was Dr. Frohm.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, could you repeat that.”

“Weren’t you supposed to set down and get measurements of any displacements and the gas levels from the mountain?”

“There’s a cloud bank coming in from the Northwest that I don’t like, and the air currents are too unstable as is for me to want to risk the flight or our pax.” There was the sound of a vehement argument from the cabin and the pilot’s mic cut out for a moment before he came back on.

Dr. Frohm looked like she was about to jump in when the President spoke, “Captain this is the President.”

An audible gulp, “Yes, sir.”

“Make the decision you determine is necessary for the safety of your pax, crew, and flight. Is that understood?”

A sigh of relief, “Yes, Mr. President.”

“Good.” Both Dr. Hang and Frohm looked like they were about to protest but Josh made the cut it out motion and sent them both a fierce glare. The rest of the flight around the volcano showed no other disturbances or visual displacements before they worked the pilots began to work their way back to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

“Governor Loveless, this is Josh Lyman.”

“I recognize your voice, Josh. We’ve talked a few times in the last couple of days.”

“How long do you think it will take Director Henderson and company to get the photos to your office?”

“Probably about two hours if traffic through the Nisqually valley isn’t awful and the flight lands safely.”

“Once they get to your office, please make sure they fax them to mine and then I would like you to give me a call. That way we can figure out where we’re at and what the next steps should be.”

“Sounds like a plan, Josh.”

The President stood up from his chair, which forced everyone else to stand, and then made for the door. Josh barked a couple more orders out before he followed his boss. It took a near sprint for Josh to catch up to the taller man, but he eventually managed to do it. “Mr. President,”

“Yes Josh?”

“Not that I disagree with your decision regarding keeping the flight safe…”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.” Matt stopped and turned to look at his friend.

“But the GOP is going to have a field day with the fact that you were unable to put federal employees at risk in the SitRoom when this leaks.”

“Why do you think it’s going to leak?”

“Henderson didn’t sound too pleased with the pilot’s decision, and you backed him up. All it would take for it to leak is for him to complain about it to the wrong person. They’ll try to paint you as someone who isn’t prepared to make the tough life or death calls.”

“Believe it or not Josh, I didn’t make that decision out of some bleeding-heart liberal principle.”

Josh rolled his eyes, and Matt briefly wondered if it was possible to strain the muscles that made that possible. “I trust you, Mr. President. But we need to be prepared with an answer when the media comes after us for it.”  

“How many decades of experience in monitoring Glacier Peak and Washington State’s volcanoes do you think were on that chopper today?”

“Oh…we need them and their experience, their institutional knowledge, to handle this crisis. It would cripple our ability to handle this situation if they died in a helicopter crash at the mountain.” A smile graced the President’s face as he turned around and resumed his trek back to the Oval Office. “Sam will be meeting with the Director of FEMA tomorrow to bring them up to date on the situation in Washington.”

“That’s after you brief him tonight, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s next?”

“We need to discuss what we’re going to do with the scheduled state visit to Japan and South Korea next week sir.”

“Yeah, I figured that was going to come up.”

“I think we should brin-“

“Arnie, it’s good to see you!” Josh and the President turned into the outer office for the Oval. Their nominee for Secretary of State had been in the middle of a conversation with the President’s body man – Josh really needed to remember his name – but it had come to a stop when they walked in.  

“It’s good to see you too Mr. President, Josh.”

“Senator.” Josh nodded stiffly at the Secretary-designate. He thought that the move was genius politically and knew that the two men agreed (for the most part) on foreign policy. But it still felt wrong to have a Republican working this high in a Democratic administration.

“Why don’t you come into my office Arnie?” The President opened the door to the Oval and all three men entered it. Once the door shut, the President spoke again. “Coffee, Arnie? Josh?”

“Thank you, sir.” Josh quietly made his cup and so did the Senator.

“So, what’s the latest out of Washington?” The former Senator looked apprehensive. Neither he, nor the President, had voted in favor of the USGS’s consistent request to increase the CVO’s budget so that it could better monitor GP…those votes loomed over the administration’s head. While it was super majorities in both houses of congress that had repeatedly shot down these budget requests; that wouldn’t matter too much when there is video of the National Guard recovering bodies from lahar flows.

“There was a visual bulge on its northeastern face.”

Vinnick grimaced as he set his coffee down before he turned to address Josh. “I take it there going to send images to your office once they’re safely on the ground.” Josh nodded. “What’s the next steps?”

“We need to determine how big this bulge is, if it’s a sign that an eruption is imminent before we can begin to discuss ordering an evacuation.”

“Discuss it?”

“There are local political factors in the mix that mean the people in the most danger don’t particularly trust Governor Loveless. It might be better from the evacuation order to come from the County Executive’s office.”

“What kind of political factors could mean that the locals won’t trust an evacuation order about a fucking volcano?”

“Loveless won her office by five votes in 2002. There were issues with vote tabulation across the state and it took three recounts for the Republican Secretary of State to declare they’d gotten the final vote count. At that point she had a two-vote lead. The GOP nominee for Governor then challenged the election in an rural county’s Superior Court…where they found that three snowbirds had voted on their absentee ballots and in person for the GOP candidate.” Matt raised his eyebrow at this.

“And how does Washington State law handle that kind of voter fraud?” The former Senator from California was intrigued.

“It discounts the votes on the absentee ballots and issues a $5,000 fine to those who commit it.”

The President decided to chime in at this point, “And just how many votes were cast in the 2002 Gubernatorial election?”

“I honestly don’t know sir…but Washington’s Republican Party has taken a hard right swing in the aftermath of the ’02 and ’06 elections. It’s pushing the narrative that the Democrats in power are using dead people to vote and keep themselves in control of the state government.”

“Despite the fact that it was a Republican Secretary of State who declared the election closed?” Vinick raised an eyebrow at that.

“Yep.” Josh popped the ‘p’ sound. “Which is even more funny when you realize that the last time a Democrat won Washington’s Secretary of State office in an election was in 1954 and that the incumbent was unseated in 1958…oh, and the GOP has had control of the State Senate from 1997 until this new crop of Senators were sworn a few weeks ago.”

Matt rubbed his temples; he would have been far happier if he’d been unaware of the local political constraints facing the Governor. “It’s pretty obvious that I can’t go to Tokyo and Seoul with all of this going on, Arnie.”

“No,” A deep sigh was the response. “No, you cannot Mr. President. It would be for your domestic image if nearly 70,000 Americans are being evacuated from their homes, because of a pending volcanic eruption, while you're abroad. And it would make our relationship with Canada tense too.”

“But we also can’t ignore Japan and South Korea, either.” Josh pointed out, “They’re our closest allies to China and the situation in Kazakhstan is still a giant mess.”

“I wouldn’t send Acting-Secretary Smith,” Vinick mused. “That would just be asking for a diplomatic incident…how do you think the First Lady would feel about traveling in your stead Mr. President?”

The President reached over to his intercom, “Ronna.”

“Yes sir?”

“Could you please ask my wife to come down to the Oval…and ask her to bring her Chief of Staff please.”

Chapter Text

February 3^rd, 2007

1:35 AM – The residence of Joshua Lyman and Donna Moss

“Pumpkin patch?”

“Yes, Donna?” The irritation in his voice was crystal clear.

“Have you seen where I put my phone charger?”

“It’s in your computer bag love.”

“Wha-when did I put it in there?”

“Donna, love, what’s going on?” Silence came from the master bath. Josh gently knocked on the door and saw his wife with a blank stare at the mirror. She seemed terrified, which was not an expression that he was used to on her face. He reached out but stopped before he grabbed her shoulder, his hand hovered awkwardly. The last thing he wanted to do was trigger something because right now it looked like she was on the edge of a flashback. “Donna?”

The dark bags under her eyes have only grown over the last couple of weeks. She hasn’t had a solid night’s sleep and if she eats too much she throws up – something that had happened as long as she could remember, she’d told him in Hawaii. But he bags under her eyes started around Christmas, and they’ve only grown steadily darker since then. “Donna?”

“I-I-the last time I went abroad I nearly died Josh…” He can feel his heart get ripped in half, “And now I’ve got to oversee the First Lady and make sure that our staff doesn’t do anything to cause an international incident.” Josh reached out and gently squeezed her arm. This wasn’t the first time she’d opened up to him about how overwhelmed she felt in her new job…campaign spokesman to FLOTUS’s chief of staff is a huge jump no matter how much experience Donna got while she worked as his senior assistant. The New York Post’s op ed from November – shortly after Helen had announced her pick for CoS – still occupied more space in Donna’s mind than it was worth.  

“You’re gonna be able to handle this Donnatella.” He gently wrapped his arms around her waist, “There are going to be bumps and mistakes made, but you’ll be able to handle them.” A gentle kiss on her cheek turned into a snort, “Remember the Batak translators you found us?”

The growl she sent his way was not missed. “Joshua-“

“Let me make my point, please?”  A brief nod of assent, “the State Department sent a translator that spoke the wrong language, but you were able to find a work around.”

“In the end it didn’t matter, the Indonesian advisor could speak English…”

“Yes, but also no.” She quirked an eyebrow at him, “You were made aware of a problem, one that should not have had a solution present. Yet you were able to find a chef’s assistant at the White House that spoke two of the languages we needed…do you know how impressive that is? Especially since said chef’s assistant didn’t speak English?” A blush crossed her cheeks, and he knew she had figured out where he was headed with this spiel, “You were able to find a solution to a situation because you have the tenacity and intelligence to work through almost any problem that lands in front of you.”

“You keep saying that.” She muttered as she gently placed her hands over his on her stomach.

“That’s because it’s the truth Donnatella.” A kiss too her cheek, “You’re losing weight…”

“It’s just stress, Josh.”

“But still-“They continued to bicker about her health as Donna packed up her toiletries. With a kiss, and a promise to see the doctor if she continued to lose weight while abroad, she headed out the door and was immediately confronted with the fact that there were two town cars out front instead of one town car with its black suburban companion. An exasperated, but fond, sigh escaped her lips as her detail’s lead agent directed her to her car.

Once her door closed behind her, she laid her head against the head rest and started to work through some of her deep breathing exercises that her therapist had recommended after Gaza. This wasn’t the first time Josh had to talk her off of the ledge, and he almost always did it with stories of her creative problem solving abilities. Stories that she thought were embarrassing and showed how she struggled to cope with the job were stories that Josh thought showed her ability to think outside of the box and solve problems no matter how big or small they were. It still boggled her mind that he thought that highly of her at times.

Although, if she was honest with herself, she had always realized he thought highly of her ability to do her job and solve all sorts of problems…but that was before. Before her conversation with CJ in the middle of that lockdown; before Colin; before a roadside IED left her the sole survivor in that damn suburban. Then there had just been rage.

A rage that had been unfairly directed at Joshua Lyman. Oh, she had valid reasons to be frustrated and agitated with him…but not the unbridled rage that she had hung onto. And to be honest she felt bad about it especially since it turned out he had, and still, thought she was extraordinarily good at her job.

The soft smile she felt as she thought about how Joshua’s support for her as the First Lady’s chief of staff had been unbridled since their return from their honeymoon. But before she can get too far down that train of thought there is a knock on her window before the door swung open. “Mrs. Moss, we’re at the White House.”

“Thanks, Melinda.” The Secret Service knew about their marriage – hence the Mrs. Moss – and it still sent a shiver down her spine to be called Mrs. anything. It had been a long discussion about what they wanted to do and where they saw this going; but it had been Josh that said she was it for him and her that suggested they get married while they were in a state with no waiting period. It had only been after the wedding that they realized there were a metric shitton of people back home who were going to be pissed that they had missed it.

Which is why Josh had suggested they keep it semi-quite for now so that everyone could get used to them as a couple before they announce their marriage. Donna had agreed, but it had been hard to keep up the pretense at times; Annabeth already knew because she saw her wedding band that she wore on a chain and she’d almost slipped up in front of FLOTUS last night when they had a glass of wine as they’d gone over the plan for this trip one more time – another piece of evidence that wine, Donna, and the First Lady do not mix.

“Donna!” Speak of the devil.

“Good morning Mrs. Santos. Did you sleep alright?”

The First Lady wrinkled her nose, “Do we really have to start with the Mrs. Santos and ma’am already?”

“We are headed out on a business trip ma’am.” That’s when Donna realized that Mrs. Santos had met her in the West Wing’s reception, less than 50 feet from her husband’s office. “Errr, I thought we were meeting in your office ma’am…”

“Matt’s tendency to be a mother hen had become unbearable,” Helen huffed. “I needed to get away before I got too snippy, so I came down here to greet you. Now I have a question for you…”

“Okay, ma’am?”

“Why are you entering through the West Wing when you work in the East now?”

Donna held up an envelope with the President’s name on it, “I’m just leaving some advice for the President’s desk.”

Helen quirked her eyebrow at Donna, “Advice for what?”

“On how to prevent Josh and Sam from setting the building on fire while we’re away.” A spluttered laugh was all she got out of FLOTUS before they both made their way to the Oval. “Does the President usually get overbearing when you’re traveling?”

“It’s only when one of us is headed overseas.” Helen sighed softly, “Personally, I think it’s a left-over trait from his time in the Marines. He always had to make sure all the I’s were dotted and t’s were crossed when he left for deployment in case he didn’t come back…it’s hard to let that go when you leave the service.”  Donna sucked in a breath, that was something she hadn’t particularly thought all that much about…which had been a major problem for her mother when she was in Germany, but that’s a train of thought that had to be stopped right there. “Now tell me, Donna, how bad do Josh and Sam get when they’re together without appropriate supervision?”

The conspiratorial smirk on Helen’s face made Donna giggle, “Well, there was this one time when the heat in the West Wing was out…” FLOTUS was left in a fit of giggles by the time they had reached their temporary suite in the East Wing. Donna had told her some of the troublesome duo’s most embarrassing moments from Bartlet’s first term.

Helen was surprised to see that her staff was already at, but Donna was not. It took a ton of work and time to get the office ready for an international trip; to be honest, the Chief of Staff thought it was likely most of her staff had only gone home to grab a bag before they came back to the office. She thought it was more likely that most of them had brought their stuff to the office yesterday and not left. That’s what she’d done the first time she went on a Presidential trip; although this time the President would be back in DC which meant that they would be on one of the 757s (instead of Angel one or two) that the government owned.

Donna pulled a Josh and whistled to get attention of her staff, “Alright everyone, it’s a 20-minute drive to Andrews (even with the motorcade) and wheels up is in 45 minutes. Let’s head out!” In a matter of seconds their senior staff broke out into a hive of activity. With a nod to the First Lady, Donna headed to her office to grab what she needed – including the overnight bag she’d left behind on Friday. After a quick look around to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything important. With a satisfied smirk she turned out of her office and headed down to where the motorcade sat.

By the time that she’d gotten down there, Helen was already seated in the main limo. While it wasn’t necessarily protocol for the First Lady’s CoS to sit with her in the motorcade, Helen had made it crystal clear that she wanted Donna to ride with her to Andrews. Especially since she was to read brief press remarks before she boarded the plane.

“Alright Donna, walk me through this boarding process one more time…” And that’s exactly what Donna does. Once they get to Andrews, Helen nailed her remarks to the assembled press before she boards the flight with a smile and wave. It went off seamlessly and Donna received a text from Josh that made her blush quiet madly; and if the look on the First Lady’s face is anything to go by, she got a similar text from POTUS.

As the plane rolled down the runway and took off to the sky Donna is sat across the desk from FLOTUS in its forward office. Their conversation was heavily focused on a review of the remarks and what press questions Annabeth could expect as they got closer to Seoul – their first stop on the trip. “This is a 15-hour flight, right Donna?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then can we knock it off with the work talk for the next couple of hours and just be friends?” A small smile crossed Donna’s face as she nodded her ascent. “Excellent! Now why don’t you tell me all about you and Josh…”

Oh god damnit.

Chapter Text

February 3^rd, 2007

11:05 AM - The Oval Office, the White House

“So, Josh,” The Chief of Staff did not like that tone of voice one bit. Once Sam, Ainsley, and Lou had made their way from his office into the Oval he closed the door. Then turned around to see the President with a letter in his hand and a shit-eating grin on his face, “Would you care to explain to me why you and Sam thought the best way to handle a lack of heat in the West Wing was to set it on fire?”

“Well, in our defense Mr. President,” Sam jumped in, but his cheeks had a hint of a blush on them, “we only set a fire in the Mural Room’s fire place.”

“Which set off the smoke alarms and forced Jed Bartlet to stand on the Truman Balcony in his underwear?”

Josh heard Ainsley snicker as Lou quirked an eyebrow. He couldn’t let his Deputy take all the heat on this. “Yes sir, the flue on the fireplace was welded shut around the start of the Civil War. We would have known that if we’d bothered to read the placard next to it.”

“Well,” the President actually pouted, “that’s not nearly as exciting as Donna’s letter made it sound…” Lou actually snorted at that comment as Josh restrained an eye roll.

“She is from the Midwest sir.”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Josh?” There was exaggerated anger behind the President’s tone which told Josh he was in a good mood…for now.

“That she’s exaggerated stories for humorous effect since the moment she was born, sir.” Before the President could chime in, Josh rolled on. “Sir, as fun as embarrassing Sam and I must be for you we have to move onto the reason we’re in this meeting.”

A reluctant nod from Santos was followed up with a nod from Josh to Ainsley. Whom, despite her experience in the Bartlet White House, looked terrified. “Mr. President, I want to be clear that this is meeting is in no way a declaration that I’m switching parties or agreeing in any way or shape to spy on the GOP.” That led to a bemused nod from the President. “Right, okay then…sir, as I’m sure you’re aware, the Senate GOP is caucusing on Monday, February 5^th, to whip votes to replace Robert Royce with Morgan Mitchell as its Majority Leader.” There were nods around the room at this point. “Mitchell and I have a history dating back to our time clerking for Dryford.”

“Okay-“

But before the President even finished his thought Ainsley powered on, “We don’t like each other and significantly disagree on how to read and interpret the Constitution.” The emphasis on the word significantly rose the hair on the back of Josh’s neck, “His interpretation of the document is straight up fascist and could spell the end of our republic.”

“Not that I don’t believe you Ainsley,” The President gently raised a hand up to signal stop so she could take a breath. “But that is a massive charge to lay against a sitting US Senator.”

“Yes, sir…I have several memos from my time as a clerk with Dryford, I kept them as mementos really, but that’s besides the point. The point is that his rise within the Senate ranks is terrifying, and this administration needs to understand the thought process of the man you’ll be dealing with for the next two years or more if you can’t take the Senate.”

“How bad are these memos?”

“The right wingers will love them, and they’ll mobilize, but the real question will be how Fox covers’ and responds to it. It’s become the best way to judge how the base will react.” This was Sam, covering the political side for his boss so his fiancé didn’t have to answer a political question. That had been a fairly easy topic to agree to.

Josh was incredulous, “You said, ‘how Fox covers it’. Are you suggesting we leak these memos?”

As for Ainsley, she was beyond uncomfortable. Her entire life had been built up to serve a Republican President and then she’d got her first White House job from a Democrat which had sewed seeds of distrust among her fellow conservatives. Then she’d bolted from the Hoover Institute after less than two weeks to take a job with the incoming Democratic Administration; and this time it was unforgivable because she’d actually sought the job instead of it falling into her lap. She was acutely aware that her political career within the GOP was already dead; but this, giving someone who’d been a no-name, three term Congressman, legal memos penned by the future Republican Senate Majority Leader felt like the final nail in the coffin.

But there were far more important than her career or her loyalty to the party that had given her such opportunities. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting, Josh.” She took a breath to fortify herself, “It’s unlikely it’ll sway enough votes inside the Republican caucus to stop him from toppling Royce. But it will significantly weaken the GOP’s ability to hold the majority in the Senate. What I can’t say is whether or not it will weaken Mitchell’s support either.”

“So, any leak of these memos could further entrench his supports and make the Senate too toxic to get anything done.” Santos sat down in his chair beside the couches – unlike Jed, he preferred the chair on the right side of the room. “Can I see these memos? Actually, wait how hard are dense legally are these memos? Will it be too difficult for an ex-fighter jockey to understand?” The White House Counsel snorted inelegantly; it was clear the President had made a bad joke to put her at ease, but she appreciated the effort.

“I can have someone in my office review and summarize them for you, sir.” She arched her eyebrow in a pompous manner which earned a wry chuckle from POTUS.

Sam began to discuss potential avenues for them to leak the memos and how the White House would respond. The discussion didn’t get too deep before Lou interrupted, “You guys do realize the political effects of leaking these memos will also destabilize the Court, right?” Josh and Sam both paled while the President looked about to intervene; but Lou put her hand up and powered through, “Think about it, when was the last time the Court had any internal memos or discussions leaked like this? Law clerks over there will stop trusting each other…maybe even the Justices. Before we decide to go down this path, we need to think it out a little more. And, personally, I’d like some outside counsel to look at these to just cover our asses.” At this the Communications Director sent a sheepish grin Ainsley’s way.

But honestly, Ainsley understood. The decision on if they would leak these memos, or hold the over Mitchell’s head, had massive political ramifications for all involved. While Ainsley was lost in her thoughts, Lou continued; “I also want to make sure that Ainsley isn’t breaking any laws by keeping these let alone letting us look at them. Which, as I think about it, should be our first step.”

Sam was about to interject, but Ainsley gently placed her hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. “She’s right Sam,” With a nod at the other woman she continued. “While I know I haven’t broken any laws by keeping these or distributing them, it makes sense politically and legally for you guys to cover all your bases.”

Santos had heard enough, “Lou’s right. Let’s get some outside counsel on this to review if Ainsley is in the clear and then to look at these memos themselves.” There were nods around the room.

“I got someone I can reach out to for that.” Josh picked up where the President was headed, “Leo had her look over the legality of the Shareef assassination…of course he’d waited until they’d already killed him to have her review it. But the point is that she can handle codeword classified information and keep it quiet.”

“She’s rather good,” Sam looked at Ainsley and a moment passed between the couple. “I agree with Josh, Mr. President, she’d be good outside counsel to have on this.”

“Reach out to her Josh.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is there anything else on this topic?” A chorus of ‘No’ broke out. “Excellent. Now get back to your Saturdays. Josh if you could stay behind for a moment…and Ainsley,” The White House Counsel stopped where she was at and turned to look at the President. “You have the thanks of a grateful President.” She smiled softly, nodded then took her fiancé’s hand as they exited the Oval with Lou right on their tail.

Once the door closed, he turned to his Chief of Staff, “This is going to get ugly, isn’t it Josh?”

“Yes sir. I feel like I owe you an apology.”

“Why the hell do you owe me an apology, Josh?”

“I showed up on your doorstep when you were prepared to retire from Congress and recruited you to run the country. To make it a better place…”

“Instead of making those changes I’ve got a war in Kazakhstan, a volcano in Washington on eruption watch, and a neo-fascist about to take power in the Senate?”

“That about sums it up, sir.”

“Did you at any point have control over that, Josh?”

“No, bu-“

“Do you still believe I’m the best man for the job?”

“Yes sir, otherwise I wouldn’t have left the Bartlet White House to run your campaign.”

“Then there’s no need to apologize…to me.” A wicked grin crossed Santos’s face, “Peter, Miranda, and Helen on the other hand…” The President snickered as Josh sheepishly smirked. “And you can start that apology tour by joining us-“. A knock on the connecting door between Josh’s office and the Oval interrupted the President.

Josh looked at his boss and got a nod of assent, “Come in.”

Margaret opened the door before she took a step into the Oval, “Josh, Dr. Frohm stopped by your office and had hoped to have a word.”

“Send her in here,” The President cut in before Josh could respond.  Margaret nodded before she turned into the connected office. It took a few seconds for Dr. Frohm to appear with a dazed look on her face. Josh understood, it had overwhelmed him the first time he walked straight from Leo’s office into the Oval so he decided not to give her shit for it, this time at least. “What can we do for you Dr. Frohm?”

“I just wanted to give Josh an update on the flight that went out to Glacier Peak today sir.” Josh and the President nodded. “They landed and got a lot of data, including a laser measurement of the bulge which we weren’t sure we’d get. So that’s huge. It’ll take a couple of days to really pour through it all, but the initial conclusion is that an eruption isn’t imminent, but it is likely at some point in the near future.”

“That’s good, and bad, news.” Josh muttered under his breath.

“Well then,” Santos chimed in. “Why don’t you both join me in the Residence for lunch with my kids.”

“Sir-“

“Are you going to make me make that a Presidential order, Dr. Frohm?” The mirth in Santos’s voice was impossible to miss, but Lilbet didn’t know him that well so she quietly acquiesced.

“Just give me a moment to call my girlfriend, sir.”

Josh whistled, “How’d your parents take that?”

“It’s taken them almost a decade to warmup to her, but they’ve slowly adjusted.”

“Of course, they adjusted slowly,” Josh muttered under his breath. “As I remember they were Republicans.”

“Joshua…” She scowled. To Matt it appeared that both of them had forgotten he was in the room as they slipped into their sibiling-esuqe bickering.

The President coughed loudly to draw attention back to himself, “Shall we?” Without further notice he walked to the glass door and opened it on his way back to the Residence. Perhaps, at some point, it would feel like home.

Chapter Text

USAAF VIP Flight 2133

2:35 PM - Tokyo time.

"Thank you Josh." Donna's phone closed with a loud click as she rubbed her temples. The news out of Snohomish County wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either; in the fifteen hours their flight had been in the air they'd gotten data on the gasses that Glacier Peak had and continued to emit from its bulge. While there is no way to predict when a volcano is going to erupt - like you would the weather - they can get a lot of clues from the physical evidence they'd gotten thus far. And the story that the Glacier Peak told was that an eruption was in the work and it would happen sooner rather then later...but the uncertainty of how imminent said eruption would had led to a knock down drag out fight between the Governor's office and the several of the mayors and town clerks among the path of the lahars.

She'd patiently let Josh rant about the quirks of Washington State politics and she wondered if the turn the State's Republican Party had taken wasn't a preview for where the national party would move in the near future as well. Then he'd updated her on the news out of the federal Senate and that was incredibly discouraging, particularly as she and the First Lady had planned to meet with Royce next week to help increase funding for school meals so that more kids could qualify for free or reduced lunch. If he got shoved out of the way for Morgan fucking Mitchell then her boss's agenda was DOA in the Senate. All Donna could do was pinch her nose, before she stood up and made her way back to Helen's-no, the First Lady's cabin. Two short knocks, "Ma'am, are you awake?"

A groggy yawn, "Kinda?"

Donna opened the door and walked her way into the room. The First Lady's hair was tousled and she had sleep lines down her face, her eyes were bleary and she had to blink a couple of times. "I take it this is a work call?" Donna nodded with a grim look on her face, "Is this about the volcano?" 

"Kinda, ma'am." Donna took a breath, "The situation with Glacier Peak is relatively stable for the moment Mrs. Santos, there's some new data we got that makes us think we have time...but we don't know for sure."

"Kazakhstan?"

"No ma'am, it's about the US Senate." Helen's face turned pale at that. The younger woman took a moment, "We've gotten confirmation that Morgan Mitchell is going to be the next Majority Leader."

"That is...not good." 

"Underselling it there Mrs. Santos." 

"Wha-this isn't something we can do anything about; is it?" Donna shook her head, "Do you think they'll succeed? In putting Mitchell in as majority leader?"

"I doubt they'd hold the vote if they didn't have the votes ma'am." 

"Fuck." Donna had to bite back a snort, even though she fully agreed with the sentiment. 

"Ainsley says it's worse than we think." At this Helen quirked an eyebrow as she rubbed sleep from her eye, "She clerked with Mitchell for Dryford. The Counsel's office is going to give us some briefing material on some memos she held onto."

"Okay...we can deal with this better in DC." A  note of uncertainty crept into the First Lady's voice, "Right?" Donna nodded with a small smile that reassured the older woman.

"Are you ready to hear about Tokyo?" 

"The Emperor and Empress consort will greet us?" 

"Yes Ma'am, the Prime Minister was in Seoul last night and is also in the air." 

"Right...didn't he rearrange his meeting with the President of South Korea so this would happen?" A small nod from Donna, "In other words it's a protest at the fact that he's meeting the blonde bimbo with a tramp stamp and questionable taste in panties instead of my husband?" 

Donna's eyes widened, "Ma'am..."

"I have no illusions about how this meeting will go Donna." Helen rubbed sleep as there was a soft knock and a steward brought in coffee. With an experienced hand the Air Force Sergeant poured coffee for both of them then deftly set some creamer and sugar aside on the suites desk. "While the PM has volcano's and understands the risks associated with them, he's still going to be pissed that my husband canceled his trip and didn't send out the Secretary of State-designate. He'll feel slighted no matter how much he logically understands the decisions that Matt has made in the last couple of weeks..."

"He also has to appeal to his own conservative base ma'am...and to them it isn't a perceived sligh-" 

Helen coughed on her coffee, "Prime Minster Aoki is a conservative?" 

"Yes, ma'am." Donna bite her lip, "I'm not an expert on the internal workings of Japan's politics...but I can tell you what I know." Over the next 30 minutes, Donna quickly ran over the little bit she knew about Japanese politics and the rise of the current PM. And most of that, she'd read in the State Department briefing memo that she and Helen had gone over yes-no wait, two days ago?-back in Washington. About halfway through their coffee, it became clear that the First Lady had begun to wake-up which meant that she had begun to remember that meeting too. It was at the 30 minute mark that the same steward knocked on their door and came to get their breakfast orders. Helen looked sick at the thought of food so Donna ordered her something that light on the stomach and, once the door closed, basically ordered the older woman to eat. 

Breakfast was a relatively quiet affair. Donna had to fight to choke down the last few bites as he stomach revolted. The nausea had been particularly awful over the last few days as her stress level grew as this trip had grown closer. Earlier in the flight, she'd woken up and found blood in her stool. She should, would, tell Josh tonight over the phone. Ever since she'd told him about her bowel issues when they were in Hawaii he'd watched her like a hawk...which grated on her, but she also kind of appreciated. This would send him into a spiral; but hiding it would not be a good for their marriage. And that thought sent a tingle down her spine.

"Thinking about Josh, Donna?" The smirk on Helen's face made her blush. 

Before Donna could respond a voice thick with a creole accent came over the intercom, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we're approaching our destination at Tokyo-Narita. Please fasten your seat belts, raise your trey tables and set your seats into the upright position. Flight Attendants, please proceed with your sweep of the cabin." It was less than a minute after the intercom had clicked off that their steward had knocked on the door again and swept up the remains of their breakfast and coffee. Both women thanked the Sergeant as he backed out of the office. Both women buckled in as they could feel the plane decelerate into it's approach. 

****

7:49 PM - Tokyo time

Donna smiled at the cameras as she followed her boss out of the black Suburban, she was too exhausted to descend into a panic attack over the similarities to the vehicle she nearly died in. The day had been an absolute whirlwind from the moment the plane had touched down at Narita. She'd been absolutely flabbergasted when the Empress consort had recognized her and given her a hug. Apparently she'd caught the Empress's attention with the dress she wore during their last state visit to DC which meant that she'd remembered her when the Gaza bombing happened. Her question's had been well meaning, and asked without an interpreter, but it had still made the younger woman feel uncomfortable until the First Lady had come over to bail her out. 

After the airport greeting they were shuffled to the Prime Minister's office for a photo op and press event. She'd spent the last decade handling professional politicians and the PM's body language was not particularly to read; he was angry. And it was hard to not be somewhat empathetic to his position as his two largest (and nuclear armed) neighbors had flung themselves into a war in Central Asia, which forced their biggest ally (also nuclear armed) to send in its own troops as a buffer between the invading armies. One wrong moved and they land of the rising sun would be engulfed in WW3 before its prime minister could even blink. No matter how empathetic Donna was to his plight, she also had to ensure her boss was protected...and really the American position on the brewing war. 

No matter how much Josh, or the President, told her they knew she was ready for this; Donna felt so like she was drowning. What was worse was she could tell Helen felt the same way, no matter how hard she tried to hide it in her canned answers to the press. 

Fortunately, none of the Japanese press pressed to hard on America's new First Lady and the expanded East Wing press corps kept the peace. They got out of the press conference and photo op with relative ease and moved to the working lunch. Which was primarily dominated by the officials from the State Department that had been slotted to come on the trip - even when it was supposed to be the President that traveled. She watched as her boss made conversation with the Prime Minister and his wife; what surprised her (but shouldn't have) was when the PM's chief of staff called her by name and opened conversation with her. It turns out he also remembered her from the Prime Minister's several visits to Washington during the Bartlet administration. Back then Tanaka had been a deputy chief of staff to Aoki the last time they'd been in DC and he'd worked with Josh several times - much to Donna's chagrin, she recognized him but didn't remember him. Tanaka sounded like he had been a moderating influence on some of the more reactionary elements within the PM's inner circle after President Santos canceled his visit. 

Her conversation with Tanaka had been fairly informative for Donna and she realized that he hoped to have a close working relationship with the White House Chief of Staff; to help "clear up" communication issues that seemed to exist when Kazakhstan flared up. She told him that would be a conversation to have with Josh's office, and he nodded as if he expected that from her. What had surprised her was his teasing comment of "He'd probably appreciate a heads up from you." had caught her off guard. It had become clear to her that everyone in politics had (not so) patiently waited for her and Josh to figure their shit out. 

The dinner had gone rather well, Donna thought. Prime Minister Aoki's remarks had been rather tepid and it felt (to Donna) like a plea for the administration to take Japan's position seriously. As she thought back on it, the press had made it sound like President Bartlet had really only checked in with NATO in the lead up to America's intervention. At first she'd just believed that was the media's attempt to dumb it down for the masses; but now, as she observed the Prime Minister of Japan, she was worried that was really the bulk of Bartlet's diplomatic efforts. If that were true, the fact that President Santos canceled his visit would be a massive red flag to Aoki and his staff that they couldn't rely on the United States as an ally anymore...she needed to talk to Josh. 

After the toast, the dinner was fairly straightforward. There was no major surprises and before Donna fully appreciated the food on her plate, which she barely touched even though she was ravenous, the dinner was over and the First Lady was in the middle of the final photo ops with the Prime Minster and his wife for the evening. It only took a few moments for them to be hustled into the motorcade by the Secret Service. As they wound their way through the streets, Donna and Helen talked about what went right and what went wrong today. It was among the quickest and easiest debriefs she'd ever done...Donna mentally patted herself on the back. 

Once they arrived at the hotel and the First Lady exited the suburban, there was a shout from one of the vehicles behind them. "Donna!"

Both Helen and her turned around before Donna waved her boss on, "Melanie! What can I do for you?"

Melanie had been one of the first Assistant Deputies Josh had hired during the Bartlet transition and had been one of their most effective ADs. She'd left for a job with the junior Senator from California shortly after Josh had returned to work after Roslyn. It had taken quiet a bit of sweet talk from Donna to get Melanie to leave her job on the hill to join her in the East Wing. Donna's deputy chief of staff handed her a note with a twinkle in her eye. "I hear Josh likes the finest bagels in the land." 

At that, Donna opened the note and immediately swore. That caught the First Lady's attention, "Is everything alright Donna?"

With an exasperated sigh, Donna pulled out her phone as she shook her head at her boss. Josh picked up on the second ring, "You guys did well tonight!"

"Joshua, you can't be smug." Donna noticed Melanie snicker as Helen's elegant eyebrow quirked upwards.

"Why can't I be smug?"

"Joshua, promise me..."

"You see Donnatella, the fact that the first thing you said to me after you called me is that I can't be smug...then that makes me think I have a reason to be smug."

"Joshua!" Helen huffed out a quiet laugh at that point.

"Donnaaaaaaaa..." The whine in his voice made her smile softly.

"Fine, the Justice Department is preparing to announce that they've secured an indictment against Mary Marsh for tax fraud."

Chapter Text

February 4th, 2007

7:35 AM - The White House Deputy Chief of Staff's office

"SAM!" The glee in Josh's voice was hard to miss as he bolted through the West Wing to his deputies office. It was a well worn trek for him, but the shadow in a dark suit that trailed behind him was not something that the Chief of Staff had quiet adapted to yet. He barreled into Sam's office without knocking, he flat out ignored Ginger as she called out to him, which startled his friend and caused his chair to tip back into the wall and knocked one of his various degrees off of it. It turned out that he'd interrupted a meeting with Lou as she swore, "Fuck Josh! What's got your panties in a twist?" 

Sam followed that up with, "Shouldn't you be home?" The younger man knew that his boss had been in the Situation Room until two last night with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs - what was discussed he didn't know - and that Josh was under strict instructions to not be in the building until nine...at the absolute earliest. 

"I was home," Josh's voice vibrated, "I got a call from Donna about an hour ago-"

"What does that have to do with us Joshua?" Lou's glare would have cowered most grown men.

Unfortunately for her, Josh's glare had more bite, "Donna's Deputy Chief of Staff has a friend in the DOJ."

"Melanie?"

Josh nodded at Sam, "Yeah, she says they convened a grand jury about two weeks ago to review charges against Mary Marsh."

The room went dead silent for a moment. Than Sam spoke, "What on earth for?"

"I shit you not," Josh's face broke into an arrogant grin, "tax fraud." 

"Oh good god."

"Fascinating..." Lou drawled on, "Again, what does that have to do with us?"

Before Josh could retaliate, Sam pressed the button on his intercom, "Ginger, do you know if Bram is in?"

"I just watched him walk in Sam."

"Send him to my office please, and also get us the tape of Josh on Capitol Beat."

"Why?"

"Ginger..."

"On it boss." 

"Wait," Josh raised an eyebrow, "Why do you still have that o-"

"I repeat," Lou slamed her binder down, "What on earth does this have to do with us."

Sam glowered at the Director of Communications, it became clear to Josh that before he'd barged in the meeting had not been going well, "Ginger's going to get the tape; you, Josh, Bram, and I are going to watch it; and then we're going to discuss strategy for how to handle the press." The DCOS pinched his nose before he added, "Yeah know Josh, I don't think Toby has ever forgiven her for calling you two New York Jews...he'd probably appreciate a heads up." Lou's eyes widened in surprise, whether it was at the idea of the Chief of Staff contacting Toby or at the comment about Mary Marsh's comment towards the two most high profile Jews in the Bartlet Administration, Josh didn't know. 

"I'll see what I can do." Josh's voice is soft as he mulled that idea over. His heart ached for his friend, but after his leak of classified information he was still rather toxic to members of the new administration. It wouldn't do good for the new President's Chief of Staff to be caught leaking DOJ indictments to Toby. Before Lou could speak up with that concern, which was clearly written across her face, Josh followed-up with, "Maybe I can use CJ as an intermediary."

Lou's jaw clamped shut as she nodded in approval at that plan, "That's not a bad idea, Joshua."

The trio sat in silence until they heard a knock at the door before Bram opened the door and his gangly frame walked into the office, "What can I do for you guys?"

"Mary Marsh has been indicted for tax fraud." Josh said with a smirk.  

"No shit." 

Ginger appeared in the doorway with a VHS in hand, and a scowl, "I'm not bringing you any fucking muffins Josh, that's Donna's job." 

"I think I should object on Donna's behalf since she's currently on the other side of the globe...but she'd kick my ass for that, so I'm just gonna tell her what you said and let her do as she pleases with that information." Josh smirked as Ginger stuck out her tongue at him. Before Sam could ask her to stick the tape in, she did. Unlike when he'd had the office, Josh noted, Sam kept the TV in the right corner opposite the chalkboard between the two doors. It actually made more sense than how he'd had the office set-up as it allowed the DCOS to keep easier tabs on the news and the predicted vote tally that was on the chalk board. Before Josh could comment on that, Sam hit play on the remote and the clip started. 

***

"Lady the god you prey to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud!"

Sam hit pause at the end of the tape and bit back a sigh. He'd really hoped that after the disastrous meeting in the Mural Room to apologize to Mary that this story was dead and buried; it had almost cost his friend his job and his career. But it seemed like they weren't so lucky and their arrogant youth would come back to bite them in the ass at least one more time. His private musing was interrupted by Bram, "That's a great line!" 

"A-a," Lou's voice had become dangerously gravely as her rage built, "A great line, BRAM! This is a disaster!" Her ire turned on Josh, "How the hell did you keep your job after that?"

"Toby arranged a meeting in the Mural Room in which we were to grovel," Josh shrugged. "I was to apologize, and we'd offer them a couple of topics of their choice that would be included in President Bartlet's Sunday morning radio address. The meeting ended after she implied that Toby and I were New York Jews which sent him into a towering rage. It also helped that Jed was pissed as hell at some fringe right wing Christian group that's name I can't remember at the moment."

Sam sighed, "The Lambs of God." 

"Right..." Josh nodded thoughtfully, "They sent Annie a Raggedy Ann doll with a knife stuck through its throat because she stated she believed in a woman's right to choose."

Ginger tacked on, "Annie was only 12 at the time too." 

Lou grimaced, "Okay, that's...that's fucking awful." Her rage was tempered, Sam noted, but it didn't change the fact that Mary getting indicted was going to really fuck over their agenda in an already hostile Senate. And he knew what Lou's next objection would be as she had begun to speak again, "But still, this is going to be spun by Fox and other conservative outlets, like the Wall Street Journal, that you're using your position to pick on a political foe you've already had heated fights with, Josh. And that's going to ham up everything in the Senate. Senator McMinon of West Virginia already hates our guts and we can't afford to alienate any more conservative democrats."

Josh's eyes narrowed at the gibe about Senator Carrick, but thankfully didn't rise to the bait. "I know, Lou. And I'm going to trust you and Bram on the messaging for this. The President needs you to get this right so we can dance around it without hammering his agenda. Sam can you handle the meeting with McMinon, right?" 

"Of course Josh."

His friend's mood brightened considerably at that, "Excellent! I'm going to get out of here before the President comes down to yell at me about violating his orders and privately celebrate by locating the finest bagels in the land." 

"Have a good one Josh." Sam said with a smile. He was honestly relieved that Josh had seemed to mellow out since his trip to Hawaii; he was well aware of the fact that the primary reason for that had been some sense of stability between Josh and Donna as those two had finally gotten their shit together. Throughout their first stint in the White House, that duo had felt like a binary star system that was on seemed on the edge of a cataclysmic collision as they danced around their feelings so they could continue to work together. And once that working relationship had imploded after the bombing in Gaza, both of his friends had seemed off kilter and brittle during the campaign as they worked on opposite sides of the Democratic primary. 

"What do you think Sam?" He was pulled out of his musings by Bram's voice. Sam turned to look at the Comms Director and their Press Secretary as he struggled to engage his brain in the current conversation. As the conversation continued to evolve, Sam struggled to let Lou take the lead as he had to constantly remind himself that he was no longer on the communications team and his job here was to primarily represent Josh and the President to make sure the plan provided them sufficient enough political cover to not fuck over their policy goals. In the end, it took them over an hour to sketch out an acceptable plan which forced Bram to push back the first press briefing of the day...a risk that Lou had decided was worth it to prevent the administration from getting blindsided by any questions about the indictment even if it looked like they were trying to cover up the White House's involvement. 

Chapter Text

February 8th, 2007 - 3:13 PM JST

Tokyo General Hospital 

Donna blinked slowly as she felt her senses return to her. Her body was somewhat tingly as she could faintly here the beep of a monitor behind her. She felt her heart rate spike as the unfortunately familiar sensation of an IV caused her mind to spiral that she was back there in that hospital bed at Ramstein. Wait, did that mean she was back in that hospital bed in Germany? Was...was her and Josh's marriage a drug induced dream? Before she could completely spiral any further she heard the squeak of a hinge as the door to her room opened along with the calk of a shoes on the linoleum floor, the nurse muttered something under her breath that was definitely not in German which was quickly followed up by an exclamation in English, "Ah! You're awake from your nap." They turned around and hustled out of the room, where to she did could not even begin to imagine. 

Nap, she felt as if she was coming out of anesthesia...not, not a nap. What were they talking about? She tried but the cotton wool that filled her head left her unbalanced and she tipped over to her right before she was able to stabilize her self. Nausea bubbled in her stomach and she gagged...then nothing? Why was her stomach empty? Oh....

It was the last scheduled day in Tokyo, Donna had reviewed the schedule meticulously with Melanie as she knew they had to nail this final meeting with Prime Minster Aoki then deftly handle the press questions before they hopped on the flight to Seoul. As she and her Deputy walked down the hallway to the Mrs. Santos' suite, they heard Annabeth call out to them as she jogged to catch up. "I'm getting press inquiries about emergency evacuations being ordered in Snohomish County a long the Skageet and Saeek Rivers,, do either of you know anything about this?"

"Its Skagit and Sauk," Donna gently corrected the Press Secretary. "I just got off the phone with Josh, he said that there was a 4.3 magnitude earthquake inear Steven's Pass...and since we know that the landslide that preceded Mt. St. Helens' eruption in 1980 was triggered by an earthquake, the Governor's office is handling this earthquake with an abundance of caution."

Melanie blinked, "An abundance of caution? Either the volcano is erupting or it isn't..."

"There's a  storm in the Cascade Mountains. So Glacier Peak is socked in by clouds, a flight is inbound but it's at least 40 minutes out." 

Annabeth blanched, "I'm just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that a volcano could be erupting right now and we wouldn't have a clue."

"I spoke with CVO Director Henderson a few minutes ago," Donna took breath to steady herself as she felt wobbly. "He says it's unlikely that a large scale eruption is occurring at this moment. When St. Helens' erupted in 1980 the blast could be heard as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia and that's well north of 100 miles away from St. Helens. As for Glacier Peak, no one is reporting an blast or explosive sounds. But he wants to get eyes on the mountain and so he's sending a chopper to the area around Wanatchee to see if there's any signs of erupted material." 

"So then you want me to stick with the line that the areas around the river are being evacuated due to an abundance of caution?"  Annabeth nodded as she wrapped her head around it.

"Yes, and refer any future inquiries to the USGS office in DC. They're handling all comms for the CVO at the moment, they're staffing levels aren't where they need to be to get a handle on this." 

"Got it, thanks Donna!" Annabeth sprinted off back to the press gaggle as Melanie shook her head at her boss. Donna nodded as if to say, I get it...this is a lot. She then knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Mrs. Santos called out. 

The Chief of Staff opened the door as her and her deputy took a step in to their boss's suite. "Mrs. Santos, we have a development in Washington State." As she and her Deputy spoke with FLOTUS to update her on the earthquakes in the area around Steven's Pass, she felt her nausea worsen a long with the sudden pressure near her hips. Melanie was discussing the evacuation plan that Snohomish County had in place, so she quickly excused herself to go to the rest room. Donna barely made it to the toilet before her body was evacuated whatever was in it, gas bubbled up from her gut and she burped as her head started to swim. When she stood up to wipe she took a look and was horrified to see that it was mostly blood; then she collapsed to the floor and started to vomit. 

There was a loud knock a the door as she heard Mrs. Santos frantically call out her name, before she could collect herself enough to say that she was fine...she heard a boot connect with the door and the lock mechanism shatter  before it swung open. In came Agent Cheynne, the Secret Service Agent on her detail that was on duty. She vaguely heard "Badger is down, call an ambulance" but she struggled to articulate that she was fine and an ambulance was unnecessary. But no one wanted to listen to her, or maybe it's just that they couldn't believe her since she hadn't flushed the toilet yet to hide the evidence. "Donna," it was Mrs. Santos, "you've been in and out of the bathroom for months, I'm worried about you as your friend. As the First Lady, I'm going to have to order you to at least go to the hospital and get examined." 

Donna nodded in assent, then she spoke. "Fine, Mrs. Santos. But you cannot skip one step of this trip, you have to stay focused in the meeting with Prime Minister Aoki. Lean on Melanie for the press conference...she's got a good head for those, it's why I pushed so hard for her as my Deputy. I know you two have only known each other for a few months, but you need to trust her." The First Lady nodded in assent, "If the opportunity presents itself, collect a list of his concerns so you can present them to our husbands." Her boss quirked her eyebrow and smirked, "Then go to Seoul and meet with the President Jang and Prime Minster Park. Even if it's just a one day drop in and you have to cut the trip short because of the volcano...they still need to meet with you. They need to be able to voice their positions on the incursion into Kazakhstan."

Mrs. Santos gripped her hand tightly, "I understand Donna." 

That had been...over a day ago? Once she'd arrived at Tokyo General they'd quickly drawn blood when they hooked her up to an IV to give her fluids. She'd discussed her symptoms with a doctor, through a translator and she'd immediately decided to bring in a gastroenterologist. After a brief discussion she'd been given prescription level laxatives to help prep her for an emergency colonoscopy; which was an experience she wouldn't wish on anyone, not even Dr. Freeride. She had vaguely been aware that prep for a colonoscopy was uncomfortable and unpleasant, but what she was not prepared for was how much each trip to the bathroom had hurt. It was due to the pain, and the fact that she hadn't slept at all since her arrival at the hospital, that had prompted the anesthesiologist to put her all the way under for her procedure. 

Which, she had to assumed, had clearly wrapped up now that she was in what appeared to be a recovery room. Before she could complete her musings, a familiar voice called out, "Donna!"

Nonononono, he shouldn't be here; not now, not when the President needs him. She's about to open her mouth to scold him when his arms wrap around her shoulders then his lips press into the crown of her head. "Joshua." She breathed out as she pressed her head further into his chest, maybe she'd let herself have this moment of comfort before she discusses with her why he abandoned the President when he needed him for a colonoscopy. Donna giggled after she pressed her nose into her chest, "You've reached a peak ripenness of Joshness."

"A...a peak ripenness of Joshness? What does that even mean?" 

"I don't know, but  somehow you've found it." She took a breath, "Please tell me you didn't jump on the first flight of Dulles to Tokyo for a colonoscopy, Josh."

"I didn't jump no the first direct flight to Tokyo from Dulles for an emergency colonoscopy." She pulled away from his chest to level her best glare at him, his eyes pooled with concern as he looked at her face. "I hoped on the first flight to San Francisco and then connected to a flight to Tokyo."

"You hate connections." She muttered as she placed her back against his chest. 

"Yes well," he shrugged  helplessly. "The first flight direct flight out of DC wasn't for another 20 hours and I couldn't wait that long once I got off the phone with the First Lady." 

Donna hoped that the heat that warmth she felt in her cheeks didn't show itself in a blush, "Please tell me you at least brought a change of clothes or anything to take care of yourself."

His hand gently tipped under her chin to tilt her face towards him, "No red lights...remember?" She pressed her self against him as she leaned up to kiss this sweet, idiotic man. "It was just a colonoscopy, Josh."

Josh ran his freehand through his hair as he shook his head from side to side, "Donna...you collapsed in the First Lady's suite-"

"I was in the bathroom..." Donna whispered petulantly.

Her husband continued as if she hadn't interrupted him, "-and your red blood cell count was dangerously low low...and, and..." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "I was in the air before they had decided on the colonoscopy." 

"I'm here Josh," Her voice was soft. "and I'm going to be okay. Where going to figure out what this is and treat it."

"We don't know that, the haven't come back with the resu-"  A knock at the door interrupted him.

"Come in!" Donna called out. And then a young man who appeared to be in his late 20's or early 30's walked in with a soft smile. 

"Mrs. Moss," His eyes swung over to Josh. "You must be Mr. Lyman I presume? The Agents outside gave me a heads up."

"Yes on both counts," Donna said firmly. "He's my husband."

After a nod, "I'm Dr. Tanaka, the gastroenterologist who handled the emergency colonoscopy for Mrs. Moss. The good news is that it isn't cancer."

She could feel the tension in her husband's muscles slacken with that pronouncement. Donna herself felt absolutely flabbergasted that her symptoms could have indicated cancer in the least; after all, she's experienced them pretty much her entire  life and not one of the doctors she'd seen in her life had told her that whenever she brought up her symptoms. As her head was spinning, Josh asked the obvious question; "So what's the bad news then."

Dr. Tanaka looked at Donna and she nodded at him, "Mrs. Moss, you have ulcerative colitis. It's an autoimmune disease that, when flared up, leads to your immune system attacking your colon. This causes bleeding ulcers in it and the symptoms that you''ve been experiencing." There was a  brief pause to let her absorb the information before he continued, "The good news is that there is a cure for this disease; the bad news is that the only way to cure it at his time is to remove the colon."

Josh opened his mouth to object, but stopped himself. Donna smiled softly at him, "Is that the only option?"

Her doctor shook his head, "No, we can also manage ulcerative colitis with biologics to suppress the immune system and reduce the risk of ulcers forming. But before we can do that we need to get this current flare-up under control."

"How do we do that?" Donna asked softly.

"We'll get you started with a round of steroids, Prednisone, to get he inflammation under control and then prescription strength iron supplements to help your red blood cells count rebound." 

Donna leaned into Josh as she shuddered at the thought of going on Prednisone. Josh jumped in so she didn't have to, "Errr, she had a pulmonary embolism a couple of years ago...does that change what steroid you'd put her on?"

Dr. Tanaka blinked at them, "I, let me double check on that before we move forward with the treatment plan." The young man bowed to both of them before he left the room. 

"Oh Josh," she muttered as she turned her head back towards his chest. He gently rubbed her back in soothing circles as he laid his head on top of hers. They sat like this for a few moments before she had a thought that sent a chill down her spine. "Joshua, please tell me you didn't call my mother to tell her I was in the hospital again." He just kissed the  crown of her head in response. "Oh God, she's going to hope on an international flight again."

She could feel his lips twist into some semblance of a smile, "It's not just your mother." She groaned, "But they've been delayed." 

"Why?"

"They couldn't get a direct flight from Madison to Tokyo so they had to fly to Seattle for their connection." She felt her heart drop, "Their flight made it safely to SeaTac, but they're gonna be stranded there for a bit."

She swallowed, "It's Glacier Peak, isn't it?"