AUTHOR: Morgan morgan@camelot72.screaming.net
SUMMARY: Its the season of goodwill to all men - even Toby!
DISCLAIMER: The West Wing belongs to NBC et al. I'm not quite sure why I'm doing this, I just am - but its for entertainment purposes only - no disrespect is intended.

Seasonal Offerings

Abigail Bartlet looked with satisfaction at the small but select gathering in the Mural Room. She had decided to ensure that her husband's senior staff socialised and relaxed, just a little and so into the time between Christmas and New Year she had inserted this small party. It had been surprisingly difficult to persuade this particular group of people of the necessity of attending. But she was a devious and intelligent woman and in addition she had been married to a politician for a long time, which made her more than a match for any of the schemes that they could come up rather than attend her soiree.

It actually wasn't going so badly, Leo was leaning against the wall, looking bemused, which probably meant that he was enjoying being an observer as much as she was. Across the room she could see her husband deep in conversation with Josh, who looked a little frail but more animated than he had in a while - and animated in a good way, there was none of the desperate, raw energy that he'd displayed just a few weeks ago. Sam was at his shoulder, butting into the conversation every now and again. His clowning was just a little too forced to be natural, but Josh seemed amused as the President and Sam batted back and forth with what was undoubtedly useless information. In any other circumstances that would be a double act to strike terror into the bravest heart, but right now, it was probably about right.

She frowned as a movement across the room caught her eye and she saw CJ slip out onto the terrace. She spent a moment debating with herself about whether she should go after her, she was worried about CJ, worried about how remote and detached she'd seemed of late. There probably wasn't anything she could do to help the Press Secretary but maybe a friendly ear... She started after her and then stopped as she realised that she wasn't the only one who had noticed her departure, Toby had seen it as well, and judging by his expression she wasn't the only one who was worrying - in fact he was probably more concerned than she was.

'Oh Toby,' Abbey breathed to herself, 'talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve.'

'What are you planning?' She'd been engrossed in watching Toby's rapidly changing expressions and had failed to notice her husband creeping up beside her, now she fixed him with a bright smile and said,

'I think we should do something nice for CJ.'

'Such as?' He looked deeply suspicious and so instead of trying to charm him she went straight on to the offensive.

'I don't think she's very happy and I think we ought to do something to cheer her up.'

'Maybe I could ban the press?'

'That's not exactly what I had in mind.' The President of the United States followed the direction of his wife's gaze as it travelled towards his Director of Communications.

'No. Absolutely not; Abigail that is not a good idea.'

'It's a very good idea.' She didn't even bother to point out that the very fact that he knew almost at once what she was referring to, made it an excellent idea. 'Its right before their eyes, they just need a little shove in the right direction.'

'Abbey - they haven't done anything about it in the last three years, let alone all the time they knew each other before the campaign. Its just one of those things that is never going to happen. We should leave them be.'

'Just a little push Jed, something subtle, I really think that the circumstances are right now in a way they haven't been before. Don't you want them both to be happy?'

'Yes, but I also want CJ to let me live.'

'I'm sure she'll be very grateful to you.'

'I doubt it.' Comprehension dawned, 'you want me to be the one to...? No, absolutely not. Abbey there is no way I am getting within a hundred miles of that.'

He was the President of the United States, and while he was intelligent enough to realise that this was not one of the things to argue with Abbey about, he was also by no means suicidal enough to undertake the task himself. He staffed it out.

'Are you enjoying the party Leo.'

'I was. What do you need?' There was no fooling his Chief of Staff and while normally this was a good thing, just for once he would like not to have his oldest friend read him like a book.

'Abbey thinks, and I quite agree,' he looked sheepishly over his shoulder and confirmed that the First Lady was, in fact, watching his every move, 'that we should do something about CJ and Toby.'

'What sort of something?'

'A something that enables them to well, you know, work through, explore...' Fortunately Leo was not patient enough to watch him stumble over his words for very long.

'You want me to tell Toby to ask CJ out, don't you?'

'Well, yes. And can I just say, the fact that you knew what I meant, at once, means you know this is the right thing to do.' Leo shook his head vehemently.

'This is not the right thing to do. This is the stupid thing to do, and while, we have, in the past done stupid things, this is should not be one of those times, sir.' Jed Bartlet sighed, it wasn't that he didn't have some sympathy with this position, it was more that he had learnt that there were some matters there was really no point quarrelling with Abbey about.

'Oh Leo, my friend, this is exactly one of those times.'

There was, Leo decided a very good reason for having a deputy. Right now, he was going to prove what an excellent idea it was.

'Josh,' This was definitely the smart thing to do Leo reasoned, firstly he wasn't that close to CJ and secondly Toby was probably going to go ballistic, he really didn't need to be anywhere near that explosion.

'What do you need Leo?' Josh looked better, which was a good thing, of course he might just be about to ruin that. 'The First Lady asked the President to do something, he asked me and now I'm passing it onto you.'

'OK,' Josh looked dubious, 'what is it? I don't have to go jogging with Hoynes again do I?'

'No - its not that.'

'Its not Mary Marsh?'

'Hardly, we aren't completely stupid Josh,' it wasn't a statement he was prepared to defend very far, under the circumstances he didn't feel they really had a defence, but anyway, 'this is a small thing, it actually involves one of your colleagues. Mrs Bartlet feels that someone ought to talk to Toby about...' He didn't get much further, Josh was onto him straight away.

'Has she lost her mind? She wants me to talk to Toby about the thing he has for CJ?'

'I think she would actually prefer it if you got him to talk to CJ about it.'

'OK - that's a conversation that I can imagine in my worse nightmares.'

'CJs a friend of yours- don't you want her to...'

'Go out with Toby? I'm not sure.' Josh rubbed a hand across her face, 'come on Leo - seriously is that a fate you'd wish on someone you care about?'

'I might, if I thought he was in love with her,'

Josh sighed - he was fairly sure this wasn't covered in his job description. It was a little like stepping into the lion's den and even though Leo's final point was a valid one, and even though he thought CJ and Toby probably did deserve a chance to talk about how they might or might not feel, that didn't mean he thought it was a good idea that he be the person to facilitate that discussion.

He actually took a step towards Toby, meaning to start the dreaded conversation and then he realised he didn't have a clue what to say to him, so he veered off in the general direction of someone who might have a better idea.

'Sam, I need your help.' Sam looked up from the conversation he was having with Ainsley Hayes.

'OK.'

'Its about Toby,'

'Oh God.' Sam took a step away from Ainsley, who wisely decided that this was something she didn't want to know about. 'What's the problem?'

'Does there have to be a problem?'

'Are you telling me there isn't a problem?'

'Perhaps not a problem per se.' Sam rolled his eyes, not fooled for a moment by that, 'there is a thing though, and Mrs Bartlet asked the President to deal with it, he told Leo to, Leo gave it to me and I thought, since its to do with Toby,'

'That you'd let him kill me instead of you?'

'Basically - yes.'

'Oh God - what is it?'

'Its CJ.'

'Its that thing?' Sam gasped, startled, 'we're doing this, now?'

'Apparently it's the season of goodwill to all men, even Toby.'

'Have we told him that? Because you know Josh, I'm not sure that he'd be particularly happy to be informed that he is now, officially a charity case.'

'He's not the charity case Sam - its just his love life.'

Sam, as a speechwriter, liked to think that he was skilled with words, he liked to think that - but in this case he couldn't think of a single way to have 'the' conversation with Toby without putting himself in dire peril. He even tried rapidly running through a couple scenarios - but wasn't satisfied with any of them. And then he glimpsed salvation.

'Donna.'

'What did you do?'

'Nothing,'

'Because the expression you are wearing right now, that is the expression Josh has when he's,'

'Donna, I really, I haven't done anything.'

'OK.' She waited, expectantly, for the other shoe to drop and wasn't disappointed.

'Except... its not so much what I have done, as what I need to do. Or rather what I've been asked to do, in fact Josh asked me to do it and so in that respect its perfectly acceptable, if not reasonable for me to pass on the task, in its entirety, to someone else.'

'Sam - what is it you want me to do that you and Josh are both too scared to?' Sometimes Sam couldn't help wishing that Donna was just a little more gullible, in fact, he decided that was probably how Josh felt on a daily basis. But he wasn't interested in debating the point.

'I want you to talk to Toby about CJ.' Donna opened her mouth to say something but he got there first, 'I know, it sounds like a stupid idea, really, I do know that, but here's the thing - Mrs Bartlet suggested this to the President, he asked Leo to take care of it, Leo asked Josh, Josh passed it on to me and now...'

'You're giving it to me?'

'Well, yes.'

'OK.' There was something about her equanimity that scared him.

'You understand what it is I want you to get Toby to talk to CJ about?'

'You want him to ask her out, talk about his feelings, that kind of stuff.'

'Yes,'

'OK.' This wasn't going as he'd expected it to, her calm acceptance of an almost impossible task was just downright eerie.

'And you know which Toby I mean?'

'Yes Sam, I know who you mean, he's balding, with a beard, grumpy looking, standing right across the room and trying not to look as though he's watching CJ through the patio doors - don't worry, I'll take care of it.'

'OK.' Sam watched as Donna walked away, not he noted in Toby's actual direction, 'she's insane, that's the only explanation,' he muttered to himself, before realising Donna's sanity notwithstanding, he was the one talking to himself. 'I've got to stop doing that.'

'Here.' Toby looked up from his musings to find Donna standing in front of him holding a bundle of clothing.

'What?'

'Here,' on closer investigation said bundle turned out to be two coats, one of which was definitely his. 'You should take these.'

'Do I look as though I plan on leaving right now?'

'No, but CJ is out on the terrace without a coat, if you're going to go out and talk to her you should take her a coat and wear your own.' There was something about having his actions, or the ones he was considering, second-guessed that filled him with disquiet. As a result he was far too brusque when he said,

'What makes you think I'm going to go out there and talk to her?' But Donna, presumably after prolonged contact with Josh, seemed oblivious.

'You are.'

'I'm not.'

'Toby, you really are.' He wasn't used to being argued with, well, in fact he was used to it, but normally it was CJ who argued with him and that thought just reminded him about the woman currently standing on the terrace. Anyway, it appeared Donna had the clinching point in this discussion, 'you're a beautiful woman,' she said.

He was fairly certain she hadn't lost her mind (although with Donna anything was possible) and he knew she wasn't paying him a compliment. He realised that she was repeating something he had said weeks ago to CJ in a moment of weakness.

'How did you know about that?'

'Carol has very good hearing.' She offered him the coats once more, 'Toby, we both know you're going to go out there, I'm simply enabling you to be warm and gallant as well. Take her a coat, talk to her, and then we can all get back to presiding over a civilisation gone to hell in a handcart - its what we do best.'

CJ took a sip of her wine and looked up once more at the stars, she was cold, but right now that didn't signify, she had other things on her mind. She was confused, and while in many ways confusion was something she experienced on a daily basis, there was a huge difference between puzzling over details of taxation or public expenditure and figuring our what was happening in her private life.

Toby was a cipher, Toby was easy to read in one heartbeat and a closed book in the next. Toby was capable of being rude to her and paying her an enormous compliment in the same sentence. Toby was on her mind more and more at the moment and she wasn't sure when knowing what he was thinking, or more precisely what he was thinking about her, had started to matter so much. She heard the door slide open and knew, without a shadow of a doubt that Toby was also now right behind her.

'You'll catch your death CJ,' she started to turn towards him but her movement came to an abrupt stop when he touched her. In fact, she dimly recognised that as he'd spoken he had draped her coat over her shoulders, but that was an awareness in the corner of her mind. Instead what she was acutely conscious of, what her brain was hammering all of her senses with, was the way his hands ran down her shoulders and over the arms she had instinctively wrapped around herself, pulling her gently closer to him.

She fought, briefly against an over-riding temptation to nestle into his body, to let him hold her and then gave into it, leaning back a little more, sighing as he rubbed his hands slowly up and down on her shoulders as though he were trying to warm her up.

'Are you OK?' At his question she stepped away from him, turning to face him and catching hold of his hand as it slipped away from her, it wasn't like her to crave contact, but maybe right now she could allow herself the luxury.

'I'm a little confused.'

'I thought that might be the case.'

'Have things between us changed Toby, or were we always like this and I'm only just noticing?'

'Its both, actually its all three, things have changed recently, but we were always like this, or we had the potential to be like this and yes, you have just noticed. I don't know why I don't seem to be able to contain the way I feel about you anymore. I'm sorry if,'

'Don't apologise, its, now that I know I'm not just imagining it its OK.'

'CJ - not only are you not imagining this, but I think the entire party just conspired to send me out here to talk to you. Only Donna was actually brave enough to walk up to me but,'

'Everyone else put her up to it?'

'I don't think they realise that we, that some of this is on the surface between us.' He hated that he had suddenly become so inarticulate, 'I'm not sure that I realised it myself until just now.'

Abigail Bartlet observed the intimate scene developing on the terrace with some pride. She had been very impressed with the way Toby had taken a coat out to CJ, with the way he had wrapped it around her and with the ease that CJ had taken the opportunity to stay in his arms for longer than was strictly necessary. She was slightly concerned when they seemed to be talking intently about something - as far as she was concerned they were two people who had already demonstrated their ability to talk. It would be a lot more helpful if they moved beyond that sometime soon.

But she had nothing to worry about - because they had clearly found a way to move beyond the talking stage and she was convinced that she ought to try and give them a little more privacy when Toby stopped talking and started touching CJ's face with his hand. One quick glance towards the terrace as she shepherded the last person out of the Mural Room on a hastily thought up pretext convinced her that she had done the right thing, not only in persuading Toby to act but also in giving them some privacy. Judging by the ardent embrace they were locked in things had moved on considerably in a very short time.

The last thing on either CJ or Toby's mind was the room full of people they had left behind. It was some time later when a mutual recognition that they were freezing persuaded them of the need to go back indoors. Even then it was with some reluctance that they realised that they would have to face the knowing eyes of their friends and colleagues. But their attempt at a discrete reappearance was unnecessary, there was nothing to worry about, the room was empty.

'I'm sure there were people here when I left.' Toby muttered

'Maybe,' CJ slipped her hand into his, 'do you think there is any chance we are going to get away without people finding out about this straight away?' As much as he would have liked to reassure her he really thought she'd prefer to hear the truth.

'I think we should assume that almost everyone either knows or suspects already.'

'Fabulous,' he glanced over at her, unable to tell how she felt from her tone, a smile curled across her lips as she caught him watching her, 'you do that a lot of the time, watch me, I've never wanted to comment on it before.'

'I don't know if you realise this CJ but there are times when I can't stop myself from looking at you.' The air between them grew heated again and it was with a considerable effort that she prevented herself from kissing him.

'No one's here,' she whispered, 'I don't care if they've missed us or what conclusion they draw from our absence, lets just go?'

It was a few hours later, the lights were low, soft music trickled from a CD player and the two people entwined on the sofa had just been interrupted by the jarring ringing of the phone. Toby sighed and reached for the receiver as CJ leaned back against a pile of cushions and reached for her wine glass.

'Yes?' His face was a picture of irritation that rapidly transformed into disbelief and then rage, 'Josh I swear to God I will make you suffer for this.' There was no doubt in CJ's mind that Josh was calling specifically to establish her whereabouts, torturing Toby was probably an added bonus - but right now the main aim would be to find out if she was with him. He'd probably already phoned her at home and found out that her answer machine was on. Without speaking she reached over and took the receiver from Toby.

'Josh, is there a national emergency?'

'No,' he sounded ridiculously smug, and as annoyed as she was at this interruption, she was also pleased to find him even slightly back to normal.

'Is a huge scandal about to break?'

'Not as far as I know, of course that depends what you and Toby are doing right now.'

'I think you can use your imagination on that one, good night Joshua.' She hung up before he could reply and tuned back to her companion who was watching her with evident amusement. 'You're right, they all know.'

'And you certainly helped them reach that conclusion. I was going to lie and say you weren't here.'

'There's no point. Why are we even talking about this right now?' Before he could answer she slid back along the couch and grabbed his tie pulling him towards her. 'I want to be absolutely clear about this, at this precise moment I couldn't care less what the rest of the West Wing think.'

Which was unfortunate, because surely they both would have enjoyed the round of applause and popping of champagne corks that greeted Josh's announcement that CJ was indeed at Toby's apartment and she had just put the phone down on him.

The end