Disclaimer: Not mine, silly people. Run if CJ/Danny scares you.
Takes place basically anytime after Galileo, although there's not even a big spoiler for that episode.
***
Friday
6:22 AM
CJ woke up before her alarm went off. She began to smile but it turned into a grimace as she realized her entire body ached. Muscles she didn't even know she had screamed at her. She groaned as she stretched, not opening her eyes to the light in her room yet. She didn't often get to lounge in bed, even though she knew her alarm would be going off any minute.
Suddenly she stopped as she realized there was something different in her room. She reached out to the other side of her bed as her eyes slowly opened. She relaxed as she found nothing and shook her head, berating herself for the paranoid thoughts. Then she glanced at her clock and gasped as she saw the folded piece of paper with "CJ" written on it in his distinctive handwriting.
Her hand trembled slightly as she unfolded the sheet and grabbed her glasses.
"CJ,
You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. I have an appointment this morning but I'll see you later. And, if you don't mind, I'd like my shirt back!
-Danny"
She glanced down at her body, then tried unsuccessfully to suffocate herself with the pillow. She groaned, realizing what was wrong with the room, other then her new clothes- the scent of him was on the pillow next to hers.
She got up slowly to get ready for work, forcing herself to shed the soft shirt, knowing she would have to make some excuse to keep it. Then she berated herself for that thought as she wracked her brain, struggling to remember what had happened the night before.
---
Friday
8:15 AM
"Carol!" came the call, again.
Carol rolled her eyes at Sam. "Good luck. Here, take these files in with you so I don't have to go in again."
Sam accepted the files and fixed a smile on his face as he opened the door. He watched CJ pacing and muttering to herself for a few moments before clearing his throat. She whirled, finally realizing he was there.
"Samuel." she greeted. "What do you want?"
"How're you doing?" He answered with a question.
She looked confused. "Fine, fine, why do you ask?"
"Well, last night you were-"
CJ leaned closer, grateful for any clues he could give her. He was cut off by the phone. She ignored it and motioned for him to continue.
"Well, at the-" *RING* "-the bar, you didn't have-" *RING* "CJ, answer the phone!"
She sighed loudly and grabbed it. "Yeah?" After listening for a moment, she snapped to attention and waved Sam away, whispering, "I need to deal with this, I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm done."
He left and she tried to focus on the phone call, tried to push away the memories Sam had awakened from the night before.
---
Thursday
10:45 PM
The bar was loud and crowded, perfect for the anonymity that the West Wingers craved. Donna grabbed yet another drink out of Josh's hand and took a long swig.
"Donna!" he whined. "I wanted that one."
"You've had two already, you're not allowed to have any more. But thanks for buying for me." Donna took another drink after gesturing to the four empty bottles already in front of her.
CJ and Toby smiled at each other over the sniping, happy to have turned over the Josh-sitting to Donna.
Toby's smile turned to a smirk. "Darts?"
CJ shrugged and stood up. "Sure," she said, grabbing her drink.
"Are you drunk?" Toby asked her as they walked to the boards.
"No."
"Too bad, guess we don't have to play for money then." CJ grinned at him, remembering another night in a bar when Toby had taken her for all she had. They snagged a board and began to play. Two games later they were tied and decided the last game would decide it.
As CJ concentrated on her shot, she didn't see the figure approaching. Gesturing to Toby to keep quiet, he moved silently to stand next to CJ. Just as she was about to throw, he whispered in her ear. "You're sexy when you concentrate."
The dart missed the board by just a few inches as CJ spun around. "Danny!"
"Hey, what's going on?" He grinned at her.
"You ruined my shot." she pouted.
"Toby," Danny never took his eyes off CJ. "Are you guys playing for money?"
"Not tonight." Toby told him.
"See?" He told CJ. "Doesn't matter."
"Bragging rights for the next week are at stake, Fishboy." she glared at him. "Now I have to deal with 'da man' for the next seven days."
Toby smirked, then shoved them out of the way to take his last shot.
"Look at that. It's all your fault." CJ griped to Danny as Toby won. But she waved him to follow Toby back to the table. "Just remember," she cautioned him on the way. "We're all off the record, don't try anything funny or I'll revoke your credentials."
He stopped and turned to face her. "I'm coming to sit with you guys?" At her nod, he continued. "But what if I'm on a date right now?"
She squelched her pained expression, but he noticed anyway. Wanting to kick himself, he reached out to touch her, his expression softening. She shook her head, aware of the public place and he smoothed his shirt instead.
"I'm teasing, CJ. C'mon, let's go relax and pretend we don't spend most days sniping at each other." She nodded her agreement, a faint smile now in place, and they made their way back to the table.
---
Friday
9:15 AM
"Carol?" she looked up to see CJ standing in the doorway, in a slightly better mood.
"Yeah, boss?"
"I need copies of the charter of NAFTA and our trade agreement with Chile." At Carol's pause, she chuckled. "Yeah, don't ask, this might turn out to be a really fun day."
Carol nodded and CJ left to go find Sam. She found him in the most unlikely of places- his office. He didn't look up when she walked in, just held up his index finger to indicate that he knew she was there. She shut the door behind her and he looked up.
"Hey, CJ. Must be important if you shut my door."
At this, she looked down, embarrassed. She began to stammer. "Well, it's nothing. I mean, if you're busy... it can wait. Just something you said... before."
"CJ, stop." Sam stood up and began gathering the papers together. "It's just the State of the Union, no big deal. I have all the time in the world for you."
She smiled at his weak attempt at a joke. The SotU had been done months ago.
"You mentioned the bar last night?"
"Yeah." Sam nodded. "What about it?"
"Well, I just... Did we all leave together?"
"Some of us shared cabs... CJ, you weren't drunk, don't you remember?"
Her head dipped. "No. I didn't even remember we went to a bar last night." She lifted her head to look at him. "So any help you can give me...?"
He took pity on her, knowing he was passing up a golden opportunity to mess with her. "You, Josh and Donna shared a cab. I left before you, but that was the arrangement when I left. That's all I know."
She smiled her thanks as she left, already on her way to find Donna. The cab ride was beginning to sound familiar.
---
Friday
12:15 AM
Standing outside the bar, the Senior Staffers plus Danny, Donna, Ginger, Bonnie and Mallory began to figure out who should share cabs. Not wanting the night to end, even though they'd all see each other at work in a few hours, they took their time.
"Joshua! You're drunk." CJ laughed at him, reminding herself to make sure he had some good drugs ready when he dragged himself into the office.
"I am not." he protested, looking straight at Mallory.
She laughed and turned him towards CJ. "That wasn't me, CJ said it." He grabbed her hands and tried to focus on them.
"Aren't you CJ?" he asked, then became even more confused as those around him broke into laughter.
Mallory extracted her hands. "I need to get home. I have a class in a few hours and, unlike all of you, I need to be coherent. I have an actual job to do."
CJ chuckled as she stepped to hail a cab or three. "Alright, Mal. You take the first. Who lives near you that can share?"
Toby, ever sober, began to organize groups for cabs. CJ noticed he made sure she and Danny would not be sharing a cab, but decided not to make an issue of it. It might be a good idea for them to part on friendly terms instead of having the cab ride to start fighting again. She also noticed, to her amusement, that he couldn't figure out how to get Donna and Josh apart.
"Chaperone them." he muttered to CJ.
She grinned and replied, "Yeah, but my stop is first." Then she ushered him and his horrified expression into the waiting cab. She closed the door and turned, gasping to realize how close Danny was standing. The cab drove off.
"You seem to have gotten Toby, care to share?"
CJ considered, then surprised them both by nodding towards Josh and Donna and leaning closer to him. "They're riding together."
"Ah," a light dawned. "And we're not. Toby is impressive. He's afraid you'll ravish me, isn't he?"
CJ looked away, amazed at how quick and devious his mind was. "Or kill you." she countered, trying to regain her balance.
Danny just grinned. He glanced around. Without CJ hailing another cab, Josh, Donna, Bonnie and Ginger were talking amongst themselves. He pulled CJ closer and whispered in her ear. "We should really show him, why don't I come home with you?"
At the simple, direct request, CJ's world tilted again. She wished so much that she could say yes. Instead, "And what about the killing?"
"Oh, I'll die a happy man after you take me back to your place and ravish me."
She smiled faintly, but before she could even come up with a comeback his lips were on hers. A quick kiss, no one even noticed them. But it served his purpose as he looked at the now tongue-tied CJ.
He stepped away and into the street, gesturing for a taxi. When it got there, he opened the door for her. She paused a moment, staring into his eyes. The she sighed and turned to the four left. "Josh, Donna, come on."
As the cab pulled away, CJ watched Danny, sure that she could still see his eyes twinkling.
---
Friday
9:45 AM
"Josh, where's Donna?"
"At her desk," came the reply from under the desk. Josh emerged, holding a pen. "Look, I found it!"
"Focus, Joshua." CJ grabbed the pen, mainly to grab his attention and partly to find out what was so special about this particular pen.
"Oh, yeah, hey, CJ." He noticed her standing there. "What's up?"
She sighed. "Donna?"
"At her desk."
"Obviously not, I just walked past it."
"Donna!" He screamed and Donna appeared. "See, there she is."
CJ rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to chase away the headache coming on. "Now that you're both here, I was wondering. Last night, in the cab?"
Donna jumped in. "I made sure he got home okay, then I went right home." At CJ's look, Donna kept explaining. "You told me I had to just drop him and leave, let him fend for himself."
"That was when you guys dropped me off, right?" CJ guessed and was rewarded with a confused nod from Donna. "I'm just a bit tired today. A few things are fuzzy. We left Bonnie, Ginger and Danny there, right? What happened after that?"
Josh chose that moment to put his foot in his mouth. "Think Danny hooked up with one of them?" At CJ's glare and Donna's wide eyes, he began to backtrack. "Ah, well, hey if you don't remember... do you remember talking to Leo?"
CJ shook her head and began to pray it wasn't something overly important.
Josh's voice got stronger. "Leo would have gotten ahold of you, he was going to try your cell."
At that, CJ pulled out her cell and checked it. Sure enough, there was a missed call from Leo. CJ couldn't understand why she wouldn't have picked it up. "I'm gonna go see Leo, try to find out what I missed."
"Good luck." Josh tried to appear encouraging, trying to get himself out of the hole he'd dug himself. CJ graced him with one last glare and turned to follow Donna out of the office. Then she turned back.
"Oh, I've got a possible story, we need to check it out. Chile says they're going to boycott us if we don't let them into NAFTA. I'm checking their trade agreement, see if it's up soon and all that."
Josh nodded. "Where'd you get it from?"
"My source." she quipped. "A reporter called to ask for a quote from us."
Josh winced. "It's a non-story, but the right reporter could make it into something. Bring it to Leo."
She nodded, then threw him his pen, leaving before she could see him catch it. His cheers for his great catch followed her down the hallway and she grinned.
---
Friday
1 AM
"I can't believe it." CJ muttered to herself as she limped awkwardly around her apartment. Her phone rang and she hobbled over to it. "Yeah?"
"CJ?" Leo's voice came over the line and CJ immediately sat up straighter and rummaged for a pen.
"Yeah Leo? What's the matter?"
"I could ask you the same, you sound like crap."
She laughed at his straightforwardness. "Feel like it too, Leo. I fell up the stairs on the way to my apartment. I hurt all over."
"Well you better be ready for tomorrow. You might be getting some questions as soon as you walk in the door. Don't say a word, okay? No cute comments or jokes, got it?"
CJ took a deep breath to focus. It must be bad if he was telling her not to joke. "What is it, Leo?"
"Seriously, it's nothing. Unless we make it into something by dodging questions. You know what, we can deal with it tomorrow. Just no comments tomorrow morning."
CJ sighed, feeling like she was being left out again.
"It's late, CJ. And you're in pain. It doesn't matter enough to get into it right now. You're still in the loop, just take something for the pain and get some sleep and we'll deal with it when you get here."
Slightly relieved, CJ relaxed. "Okay."
"Oh, and turn on your cell."
"What?" CJ began searching. "It is on."
"I called it and you didn't answer, check it."
"Okay." she repeated. "Bye." As she hung up, she kept searching. "It is on... I know it's on... but it's not here." she realized as she dumped her entire briefcase onto the floor.
As she reached for the phone to call her cell, it rang again.
---
Friday
10:45 AM
"He in?" CJ asked Margaret, who nodded.
"I'll let him know you're here." Margaret stood and went into the office. She came back out just a few seconds later and waved CJ in.
"What's wrong?" Leo cut right to it.
"Did you call me twice last night?"
"Yeah, once on your cell and once at home."
"I meant at home, did you call back after I talked to you the one time."
"No."
"Oh, ok. About Chile?"
Leo nodded at her. "Not a story."
"I know that, but-"
He cut her off. "No, I mean really not a story. The President talked to officials in Chile, we've agreed to put them on the short list for membership in NAFTA if they'll disregard any talk of a boycott as crazy. We caught this one before it became a story."
CJ smiled. Finally, she thought, good news.
Leo went back to his work, about to dismiss her, then looked back up. "How are you feeling?"
"Still in pain."
"Did you take anything?" The father in Leo briefly showed itself.
"I..." CJ paused. "Of course."
He nodded and she left. On the way out she paused at Margaret's desk. "You coming with us tonight? Same bar, let everyone know." Margaret nodded and CJ walked away, glad they had averted even something as small as the Chile story and trying to remember what she had taken that morning.
---
Friday
1:15 AM
*RING*
She picked up the phone on the first ring this time. "Yeah?" she expected Leo's voice and was thrown off balance.
"You need your cell phone?"
"Danny?" CJ rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah."
"You have my phone. Great, yeah I do need it."
"You missed a call, it said it was Leo's number, I decided it would be bad for me to answer it."
She laughed. "No kidding."
"Want me to come drop the phone off?"
"If it's not too much trouble."
"Be there in a few."
She hung up smiling and went to find some medicine. After searching for her glasses to read the instructions, she gave up and swallowed three pills.
---
Friday
11:15 AM
CJ paced her office, this time trying to remember anything after opening the door for Danny.
"Carol!"
Carol opened the door. "Yeah?"
"Danny here yet?"
"I think so."
"Get him for me."
Carol stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Why don't you sit down, you're about to fall over."
---
Friday
1:45 AM
"Whoa, CJ! Why don't you sit down, you're about to fall over."
"Nice to see you too." she giggled.
He closed the door and led her to the sofa. "What's wrong with you? You were fine just a few hours ago. Did you drink more when you got home?"
"I'm still fine!" she said, struggling back to her feet and going over to her CD-player. "I feel great. Dance with me." she ordered as the CD switched on.
He got up, intent on keeping her standing. As they swayed, her body molded to his and he swallowed. His blood drummed the danger in his ears. She began to nuzzle his ear and he nearly jumped.
"I, ah..." he stammered, moving away. "Need to get some water. Sit down, I'll be right back."
He nearly ran for her kitchen, wishing he could have a cold shower instead of just the cold water. As he gulped it down, he noticed the open bottle of pills on the counter. He picked it up and went back to CJ.
"CJ?" he got no response and stepped closer. "CJ, honey?"
She looked up. "Hey, Danny."
"Did you take some of these?" He held up the container as she squinted at it.
"Yeah, I fell. I was hurting but now I feel great."
"How many did you take?"
"One. No, two." she answered and he let out a sigh of relief. "No, wait, three. Maybe."
He shook his head and reached for the phone. As he dialed he read the back of the bottle. She was supposed to have taken two at the most. The bottle was almost full, she couldn't have taken more than five, he reasoned. As he talked to the woman who answered the phone, CJ's eyes began to close and she slunk down on the couch.
He hung up and went over to CJ, shaking his head. Thank goodness he had his car with a change of clothes, it looked like he'd be watching her for the night. "CJ?" she stirred slightly and he reached to help her up. "Come on, CJ. You have to go to bed."
"What's going on?" she woke up, glancing around. Finally her gaze fell to rest on Danny’s lips as he answered her.
"You took a few too many pain pills."
"So?" she looked confused and inched closer to his mouth.
"You also had a few grasshoppers, didn't you?" She nodded and he continued, angling himself away from her advances. "The Poison Control Center said the two will enhance the effects of the other." He glanced at her, she was nodding off again. He shook his head. "You need to sleep this off. I'm going to stay with you unless you want me to call Donna or someone?"
"Okay." she was trying to keep herself awake.
"Okay, what?"
"Donna's busy with Josh. Stay with me."
Danny wished he could hear those words when she wasn't nearly incoherent. "Come on, CJ, where's your bedroom?" he muttered loudly enough for her to hear. Her eyes darkened and she stood up straighter in his arms.
"Why, Daniel!" she played with the hair on the back of his neck. "So forward."
He struggled to stay upright as her hands roamed his hair. "CJ." He protests died as she pulled his tie off and fiddled with his first button. He groaned and tangled his hand in her hair, pulling her lips towards him. He kissed her, even knowing he shouldn't. She moaned into his mouth and he knew he had to stop before it was too late.
"CJ." He finally managed to break free. She went back to fiddling with his buttons and he realized she had managed to not only get his shirt free from his pants but also get most of the buttons undone. He pulled her hands away and clasped them, leading her to her bedroom. After sitting her on the bed, he went to her dresser. "Where are your pajamas?"
She giggled and he looked back at her. "My pajamas? I bet there's more interesting things in there you'd rather see."
He smiled, "Not in your drawer, CJ. They don't interest me if they're not on you."
Her eyes widened. Then she smiled and stood up. She walked towards him, wide awake now. His eyes were locked on hers as she came closer. She got almost to him and stopped. "You want to see what I have on under my suit?"
He took a deep breath, crushing the impulse to tell her yes. "Please let it be something demure, CJ, or I'll never make it through another briefing."
She reached for the buttons on her blouse and he glimpsed black lace before he stopped her. "No, CJ. You have to think, remember who we are. We can't do this. You need to put on some pajamas and get into bed." As her eyes sunk to his lips, he hurridly elaborated. "Alone. I'll be in the living room, call if you need something. Now, pajamas?"
"What if I told you I sleep nude?"
His pulse quickened in response as he filed that away for future thought. "CJ, don't mess with me, you need to wear something to bed tonight."
She reached for his shirt again. "This is soft, I'll wear this."
He sighed in relief. At least she'd be wearing something, and he had another one in the car. "Okay." He slipped off his shirt and stepped back as she tried to reach for him. "Go get changed."
She pouted as she took the shirt from him and started to undress. He quickly slipped out the door, chased by her laughter.
---
Friday
11:30 AM
"Carol?"
"She left, said something about a tyrant."
"Funny, Toby. Get away from me."
Toby smirked. "Looks like Carol was right."
CJ sighed. "What do you want?"
"You look like hell warmed over, what's going on?"
"Well, you sure know how to make a girl feel good. Thanks."
"I'm serious. CJ, you can't fool me and you know it. What's wrong?"
CJ let out a small scream. "You don't want to know, believe me."
"I think I can handle it." Toby sat down on the edge of the couch. "I'm not leaving, unless it's female stuff, then I can go find Carol for you."
"I thought she quit?" CJ deflected the question. "And what's wrong with female stuff?"
Toby glared at her. "Nothing is, but you like to see me squirm. Don't go into so much detail and I'd be fine."
CJ laughed, remembering times in the past when she'd purposely annoy him with what he called 'female stuff'.
"You're not getting off that easy, what's wrong?"
CJ stuck her tongue out at him, then came out from behind her desk to sit next to him. "Just remember, you asked. I don't remember what happened last night."
"So?" Toby asked. "We could all fill you in. What'd you do, drink some more after you went home?"
"No, but I took some pain pills and... doesn't matter. The problem is Danny came over last night, I don't remember what happened."
Toby jumped up and she did too. "Are you crazy??"
"Sometimes."
"CJ, do you have any idea...."
"Toby, shut up. Nothing happened. At least, I don't remember-"
"CJ!" Toby silenced her and began pacing. "Did you let him in, what was he doing there, did you sleep with him?"
"A little louder there, Poky, I don't think the President heard you!"
Toby slammed the door and stopped pacing. "Oh, no, wouldn't want to deprive him of reading about it in the paper, would we?"
CJ clamped down her annoyance, knowing he was looking out for her in his own odd way. "Toby, listen to me."
Toby sighed and sat down. "You better have something better to say."
"I don't remember all that happened, I do remember I came onto Danny when he came over to drop my cell phone off."
"You... crap."
"Shut up. He turned me down, Toby, I remember him turning me down."
"He's stupider than I thought."
"Toby." she warned him. "Isn't this what you wanted to hear?"
"I want to hear the truth, find out how big a mess we're in."
CJ sighed and gathered her thoughts. She pulled the note out of her pocket and handed it to him. Toby read it and looked at her. "He spent the night?"
She snorted. "What was left of it, remember what time we left the bar?"
Toby nodded and she grabbed the note back. She ignored Toby's pointed look and carefully put it back in her pocket. "CJ," he started, then decided against it. What was the harm in a memento from something that, with all luck, never happened?
"Now what?" he asked instead.
"I told Carol to get Danny as soon as he gets here."
Toby raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, have fun with that conversation. I'm sure Danny will be thrilled to learn you don't remember your night with him, most guys would feel flattered by that."
CJ hit her head against the nearest wall. "You're not helping here. Go away."
"CJ-"
There was a knock on the door. "CJ? Danny's here to see you."
Her eyes grew wide and she sunk down to the couch.
Toby patted her hair, then went to the door. "Good luck." he opened the door, thanking Carol. Danny went into the office and Toby closed the door behind him.
Danny walked over to CJ. "How're you feeling?"
"I'm good. Great, actually." This reminded her of her 'great in bed' comment and she stuttered. "I mean, I'm feeling good, pain is mostly gone and..."
She trailed off as he touched her hair. "What are you doing?"
Danny glanced at her face, amused. "I'm checking that bump on your head. Remember, that was the one I was most concerned about."
His hands wove carefully through her hair, trying not to mess up her hair too much. She tried not to shiver at his touch, but he noticed anyway.
"You okay? Maybe you should have worn a warmer shirt today." He glanced at the silk shirt she wore and pushed away the image of her wearing his shirt. She caught his eye on it's way back to her hair and leaned closer. He smiled and grabbed the opportunity that presented itself. He nudged her closer and claimed her mouth. She moaned and wished she had thought to lock the door.
Finally parting for breath, he stared into her eyes. "Are you still drunk?"
She laughed. "No, not anymore." Then she sobered, "But we need to talk."
He groaned and pulled her body closer. "Please don't tell me you just want to be friends. Contrary to what you women think, guys don't like to hear that."
She shook her head. "This is something else you won't want to hear. I don't know how to say this, but..."
"CJ, what's the matter?" He began to stroke her hair again.
"Last night," she began, then stopped, not sure how to continue.
"Yeah?" he prompted her, already thinking ahead to their next kiss.
"I remember stealing your shirt."
"Okay?"
"That's it, I don't remember anything after."
He laughed, startling her. "Well, of course not."
"What do you mean?" she asked, suspicious.
"You were almost asleep by the time I came back to check on you after you changed into my shirt."
"I was? But you... didn't sleep in the living room?"
"You wouldn't release my hand, I didn't have much of a choice. How'd you know I didn't sleep on your couch?"
She pulled away slightly. "I, ummm."
"What was that?" he teased her.
"My pillow, it smelled like you." she sighed, giving in.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she answered quickly, then pulled away from him as she blushed. "I think you should go."
Danny stared at her. "You're kidding me?"
CJ shook her head. "Nothing happened last night, that's good. We have to keep it that way."
"What if something had happened last night? You were coming on pretty strong." Danny needed to chase the dead look from her eyes.
She looked straight into his eyes and softly answered him. "I'd make sure our second time would be something we'd both remember."
He reached for her but she eluded his grasp. "No, CJ, you can't just say that then tell me to get out. Do you even know what you do to me?"
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, go back to work. I'll see you in the briefing." She turned around to stare out the window, dismissing him.
He slammed his hand on her desk. "Let me make it easy for you. I want you. I wanted you last night, when you threw yourself at me, but I didn't do anything about it. Now you tell me we could have had a chance if I had. I'm glad you like messing with my head, because I can't stand it. CJ, tell me where we stand."
She spun back around, tears in her eyes. "We don't stand. Danny, in weaker moments, I want us too. But we need to be smarter than that. We can't let those feelings into this building, they don't belong here. And I'm not that good at keeping my personal and professional life separate, this is too big for me. So we're not going to be together until after this administration is over. Please, go. I need to get ready for the briefing."
He gently brushed her tears away, then silently walked to the door, trying not to give in to tears himself.
"Danny," she said, so softly he wasn't sure he heard her.
He started to turn around when his back was pressed against the door. Her mouth was on his before he could form a coherent thought and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She locked the door, then twined her hands in his hair. They parted for air, but didn't even open their eyes as they kissed again, trying to get as close as possible.
Carol's call of five minutes finally interrupted them. "I'm sorry." CJ whispered.
Danny stroked her cheek as she continued. "I didn't mean to hurt you, today or this morning. Or last night, or last week."
"I know, CJ." Danny whispered. "I don't want to scare you away, I just need you to know how I feel about you."
She nodded. "And I'm sorry that we have to go really slow, for now. I'm sorry that we might have to wait until after this administration for me to be comfortable with us together."
Danny's eyes met hers, both filled with sadness. He nodded and kissed her lightly before he let her go. "Time for the briefing."
"I know." CJ considered for a moment, then decided she didn't care about some consequences. "What are you doing after work?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "Don't even think about asking me for a date, I'm going out with my coworkers for another off-the-record night, at a little hole in the wall we like to call our favorite bar."
He stared at her, wondering if he'd heard correctly.
"Off the record," she reminded him. "We'll probably have an extra chair for an old friend from the campaign, if one happened to show up."
"Well, then." he said, unlocking the door. "Have fun tonight, hope you have fun with your friend."
They parted as each pondered what the night would bring. Hopefully, they each thought, not quite as many problems as the last one.
***
