***

"No. Toby, no." CJ paced the small room before sitting down on the bed. Her foot, not ready to give up the movement, tapped the carpeting silently.

Danny watched her from the open doorway, wondering where Carol had gone.

"We've gone over this. No, you've told me your view on this sixteen times!"

Shaking his head, Danny walked towards her and sat next to her. He brushed he hair away from her ear and whispered, "I'm bored."

CJ caught herself before she gasped. She hadn't even realized he was in the room.

His fingers traced a path down her neck. Then he pressed his lips lightly to her ear, her cheek, her neck. Her eyes closed. Her world narrowed to his lips and what they were doing to her. A voice on the phone vied for her attention, so she hung up the phone and threw it across the bed. She turned and met his lips, moaning as he pulled her mouth closer. Her hands went to his face, stroking his beard. Without thinking about it, he eased her backward onto the bed.

When she broke the kiss, she was shocked to find herself horizontal, with his body nearly covering hers. She stared at him, breathless.

He smiled. "I'm not bored anymore."

She laughed. "Where's Carol?"

"I don't see her."

"You'd have to stop looking at me to find her, you know."

"Then someone else can look." Danny told her.

She smiled, then sighed. "We need to get up."

He sighed also and eased off of the bed. "I'm sorry."

She stood also. "Don't be."

His eyes met hers. She nearly laughed at the shock she saw in them.

They both turned towards the door as the knob rattled.

"Carol?" Danny asked.

"I doubt it's a burglar."

Danny stepped to the door and opened it. Carol stood there, with ice and a key. "Doesn't work," she told him.

He glanced at it. "That's because it's for my room."

Carol grinned. "Oops." She stared at him, then glanced at CJ. "Am I interrupting something?"

CJ stared at her. "Of course not! I was just on the phone with Toby."

Carol nodded. "Okay." She put the ice bucket on the dresser, then grabbed a napkin and handed it to Danny. "Pink passion lipstick is not your color."

CJ's jaw dropped and her hand went up to cover her mouth. Danny stared at the napkin for a moment before bursting out with laughter. "Funny, Carol." He wiped his lips and winked at her. "I'm bored. What should we do?"

"Let's stay here and watch a movie. There must be something on TV, we have lots of snacks, and we can be comfortable."

CJ sighed. "A night off."

"It's settled." Danny announced after taking in the look on CJ's face. "Does everyone have their pajamas?"

The two women smiled at him. "Go change, Fishboy. We'll have a party."

Danny went for his room. CJ followed and closed the door behind him.

"Should I make sure your outfit is appropriate?" Carol asked, her face the picture of innocence.

CJ decided not to dignify the jab with a response and, grabbing her bag, went into the bathroom. When she emerged a few minutes later in comfortable clothes, with no make-up on and her hair pulled back, Carol grinned. "A night off." she echoed CJ's earlier statement.

"Yeah." CJ smiled back. Carol slipped past her to change and CJ crossed the room to open the connecting door. She knocked. "You decent? Can I come in?"

"No and yes." came the response.

She laughed, then jumped when the door opened. She covered her eyes quickly. "You were just kidding, right?"

He pulled her hands down. "Yes, although I know you're disappointed."

She smiled slightly, but pulled away and picked up the remote. "Think there's anything good on?"

"I hope there's an old movie on. It'd be better than a regular TV show."

She nodded in agreement as she began to flip. "Oh, look, a guide channel. Let's see if there's anything coming on soon."

They watched the scrolling words for a few moments. "'Philadelphia Story'?" CJ finally asked.

"Sounds good."

CJ muted the sound and walked closer to the bathroom door. "Carol, 'Philadelphia Story'? It starts in twenty minutes."

"Sounds good," came the muffled reply.

"Just enough time to get our snacks in order."

"And if my phone rings, I've seen the movie already so it won't really matter." she switched the TV to the right channel but kept it muted as she and Danny unloaded the plastic bags from the convenience store.

"Thank goodness we didn't get dessert." Danny stared at the dresser. "Look at all this stuff."

Carol came out, looking much more comfortable than she had in her suit.

CJ's phone rang and she groaned but grabbed it anyway. "Yeah? Josh hey. Yeah, I watched the briefing before. I already talked to Toby about it. In fact, I did notice that you weren't giving the briefing. No, stop whining. I'm not- No, Josh. No way. I'm not going to convince Toby to give you another chance."

Carol giggled as Danny shook his head, wide-eyed as he mouthed "No!" to CJ.

She turned away to keep from laughing. "I'm going now, Joshua. The movie is about to start. If you must know, 'Philadelphia Story'. Hey, tell the rest of the staff to only call me for emergencies. I'd like to see a movie all the way through, it'd be a nice change. Yeah, bye." she hung up and turned back to Danny and Carol. "He said hi. And Carol, Donna sent a message that the assistants are all taking you out to lunch when you get back. So, you know, something to look forward to."

Carol grinned. "Great, at least I'll get a meal out of the telling of my adventure with you two." At CJ's concerned look, she hastily added, "Although I probably won't be telling them everything."

"So, where are we sitting?" CJ stared at the two beds and the two chairs at the table.

"Watch and learn." Danny told her. He quickly moved the beds into a V so there was space in front of the television. Then he pulled the blankets off each bed. "Get the ones from the other room. And pillows."

CJ obeyed, grabbing the cushions from the chairs and the extra pillows from the closet for good measure.

"Thanks." He took them from her and arranged everything in a heap on the floor.

"Hmm." Carol watched thoughtfully. "That might be comfortable."

"Luckily the blankets are pretty thick. And the hotel gave us lots of pillows."

CJ smiled. "Yeah. Well, grab some snacks."

"The movie!" Danny dived for the remote and turned the sound back on as the credits started. Then he went and turned out the lights.

CJ shrugged at Carol. "Well, grab a seat too!"

They made themselves comfortable as the movie started. The next hour or so was quiet, punctuated only by short observations.

"Wow, I always forget how hot she is." Danny earned a small smile from CJ in agreement.

"So's he." Carol chimed in.

"I just want the house." CJ voiced her desire.

"You had something like that before the campaign, didn't you?" Carol asked and CJ nodded.

Finally, about halfway through the movie, the sound CJ had been both dreading and anticipating sounded.

"Stupid phone." She grabbed it. "What? Toby, what do you want? No, no. Is someone dead? Is something burning? Is the airport open? Then, I will remind you guys again, I am watching 'Philadelphia Story' and do not want to be disturbed. No more non-emergency calls from the White House. Got it? Good." she hung up.

Carol and Danny grinned at each other, but said nothing as CJ focused her attention back on the movie.

When the movie was over, they all discovered they didn't want to move.

"What's on next?" CJ asked drowsily.

"Let's find out." Danny suggested.

They sat in silence as the commercials between the movies ran.

"'Breakfast at Tiffany's'," Carol announced as soon as the credits began.

Danny groaned.

"What?" CJ asked. "Chick flick?"

"No." Danny yawned. "The book was just much better. The written word and all."

"We can watch something else." Carol suggested.

"One of us needs to get the remote then." CJ told her. They all looked at it, on the dresser next to the snacks.

"All the way over there, huh?" Carol mused.

They stared in silence for a moment until Danny relented. "Okay, let's just watch it. I can stand the movie, it's fine."

CJ smiled and closed her eyes for just a moment, muttering, "Okay."

***

"CJ." Danny whispered.

"Hmm?" she tightened her hold on his arm.

He sighed and began to run his fingers up her arm. He pushed the hair away from her face as he bowed his head closer to her. "Time to wake up."

"Huh?" CJ blinked up at him. "Danny?"

"Shh." He cautioned and glanced at Carol, curled up sound asleep next to CJ. "I need to get up, but you're got me pretty well trapped."

She glanced down at her legs, which were entangled in his. She giggled. "Trapped, huh?"

"And you're still half asleep." He muttered. "Great. C'mon, CJ. I need you to cooperate here."

She concentrated as much as she could, but it was hard in her semi-conscious state, with Danny wrapped around her. "Where are you going?"

"The bathroom, then to bed." He gasped as her leg moved to some interesting places. "Maybe a cold shower in there somewhere."

She grinned and closed her eyes as he finally untangled them. "Hurry back." she whispered.

He stood and shut off the television, now gone to a blue screen. The room plunged into darkness. He stayed still as his eyes adjusted, listening to CJ and Carol's even breathing. He felt a wave of affection for the two of them and smiled. When he was done in the bathroom, he stared at the mound of pillows and bodies on the floor. Then he glanced at the connecting door, where his bed was. Smiling softly, he laid back down beside CJ and closed his eyes. She sighed and reached out, her fingers tangling in his hair. He pulled her body close, hooking his arm around her waist to keep her in place against him. Her head fell onto his shoulder as sleep rapidly overtook him.

***

"Stupid alarm clock." CJ muttered as she blindly reached out for the snooze button.

"Ow." Danny rubbed his chin.

CJ opened her eyes. "Danny?" she glanced around the room.

"And that's not an alarm clock." Carol told her groggily.

"Phone." They both realized at once. CJ crawled to the bed and grabbed it.

"CJ. Yeah, hey Margaret. It's what time there? Wow, how'd they hold off so long? Yeah, put me through." She waited for her call to be sent to Leo's office and mouthed "Eight-thirty here, eleven-thiry there" to Carol and Danny.

"Yeah, hey Leo. Oh, speakerphone. Great, I love to be on speakerphone." she rolled her eyes at Carol. "Me? I'm fine. We're all alive, no murders here last night, so that's a good sign. Noon? Okay, we'll get there a bit earlier, be on the first flight possible. What? Oh yeah, Toby, I did notice no one called me. I got to watch the movie with only one interruption. Next time, let's go for none. No way, see you later."

She shook her head. "Toby says I owe him one for getting to watch the whole movie with only one interruption."

"Like he doesn't owe you about a hundred so far?" Carol pointed out.

CJ sighed. "He likes to remind me that he got me on the campaign, so it cancels out anything I do for him."

Carol grinned. "Yeah, right."

"So we have until noon?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. Well, we should get there about eleven, eleven thirty I think. And the noon deadline is tentative, it depends on... Well, I'm not really sure what it depends on. They didn't go into it, since I'm still on the cell." She sighed and glared at the phone.

"We'll plan on eleven then." Danny glanced at his watch. "I can't believe it's really almost nine! We must have all needed the sleep."

"Brilliant deduction. No wonder they give you so many awards."

"Get dressed. We'll go eat at the diner again."

"We can just grab something at the airport." CJ protested.

"It's called real food, CJ. I know it's a foreign concept, but try to wrap your mind around it."

Carol hid a grin in her bag. "Go get dressed, or we won't have time for food."

"I need a shower." CJ announced. Danny groaned and she glared at him.

He held up his hands. "Okay, how about I get ready and go get us food?"

"Shower?"

"Is that an invitation, CJ? Because if it is-"

"Daniel." CJ warned.

He grinned. "I don't need to blow dry my hair or put on make-up. I'll be done before you two. In fact, if either of you needs the other mirror..."

"Good plan." Carol nodded. "Both of you, go shower. Separately," she added, then plunged ahead before either of them could speak. "I'll watch TV until you're done. I'd offer to get the food, but I'm not being seen in public like this."

Danny grinned at her. "You look cute."

Carol smiled back while CJ muttered, "Suck-up."

"What was that, CJ?"

She smiled. "I'm going to take a shower." She grabbed her bag and swept into the bathroom. Danny shrugged and left Carol flipping channels.

***

Danny struggled to knock on the door, finally kicking it instead. Carol opened it and grabbed some of the boxes. "Did we really order this much food?"

"You did, you couldn't decide," CJ told her, coming out of the bathroom.

"Nice hair." Danny told her.

"Shut up. I know it's still damp, I'll finish blow drying it after we eat." She attempted to breeze past his but he caught her hand.

"I wasn't being sarcastic." He told her softly. "You look good."

She stared at him for a moment, before she dropped her gaze to the ground.

"And you're blushing. I love to make you blush." Danny gave her hand a gentle squeeze before moving past her to the table, where Carol was setting up food while attempting to watch TV.

"You sure you're good at multi-tasking, Carol? You're going to tip that box over." Danny grabbed one of the food containers that was dangerously close to the edge and shoved it towards the center of the table.

"It wouldn't have dropped." Carol protested. "I'm an expert on doing many things at once."

"Yeah, yeah. I bet you were trying to get rid of a choice, make it easier on yourself."

"Yep, that's it." She said dryly. "You figured me out."

"Too bad that was CJ's breakfast."

CJ smiled and shook her head as she watched them banter. "Well," she told Carol, walking over to them. "That would have been the end of that raise."

"I saved your raise, Carol" Danny told her. "I deserve a reward."

"Hmm..." Carol considered. "I have some friends. I could set you up on a date. When was the last time you went on a date?"

"You're always in the office, Carol." CJ reminded her. "Are you sure your friends are still talking to you?"

"You have a point." Carol pondered for a moment. "Okay, I'll have to try to get you a date with someone from the office."

"Really?" Danny glanced at CJ. "Who?"

CJ broke in. "I hear Donna's available."

"Donna?" Danny said the name slowly. "Nice girl, very pretty. Not my type though."

Carol leaned forward. "What is your-"

"Wow, look at the time." CJ cut in loudly. "Better hurry if we're going to make it on time."

Danny grinned at Carol and winked, but dutifully began eating faster. They finished eating and got ready to go, making sure they had everything. Once they were checked out and walking back to the airport, CJ pulled her phone out.

"Hey, Margaret." she moved ahead of Danny and Carol. "He in? Thanks. Leo, how's the airport looking?"

Danny watched her sadly for a moment. Feeling Carol's eyes on him, he turned. "You know, I'm almost wishing the airport is still closed."

Carol smiled sadly in return. "I'd agree with you if I had more clothes."

"If the airport is closed again, we'll go shopping this afternoon and get us all some clothes. But quickly, I really don't like shopping." Danny made a face.

"And find a nicer place to eat dinner."

"Bet we can get our hotel rooms back."

"With the good movie channel." Carol was smiling happily now.

CJ clicked her phone shut and slowed down to let them catch up. "Good news, the airport will be opening as planned."

Carol and Danny exchanged glances. "Great," Carol managed.

"Wonder how much of a mess there is in the Press Room to clear up. Oh, Danny, I bet they're going to have fun with you when you get back."

He laughed. "Strangely enough, I'm looking forward to giving non-committal answers to what I did in a hotel room with two beautiful women."

"Two rooms." CJ reminded him.

"I might leave that part out." Danny teased her. He dropped his voice. "And you did both sleep with me."

Carol laughed and whispered back, "I wasn't the one wrapped around you in the middle of the night."

CJ stared at her. "Carol! What... How..."

"I woke up very thirsty after all that sugar." Carol told her.

CJ brought her hand to her head. "This is not happening."

Carol laughed. "Is now a good time to talk about that raise?"

"Are you blackmailing an employee of the federal government?" CJ countered.

"Of course not. I am attempting to blackmail an employee of the federal government. There's a difference."

Danny opened the door of the terminal. "Play nice, girls. We're in public now."

"Oh, too bad." Carol sighed. "I was just about to pull out the blackmail photos I have."

"Photos?" Danny asked, wary but intrigued.

"Next time." Carol shrugged. "Now, where do we check in?"

CJ pointed and led the way through check-in and to their gate. They found three chairs and grabbed them, falling silent as they people-watched.

After a few minutes, Danny observed, "Looks like most of these other people had a much more stressful night than us."

CJ and Carol nodded their agreement and watched the scenes going on around them, of children throwing tantrums and parents struggling to keep their control. "Must be tough." CJ mused. "I mean, we were inconvenienced but at least we knew something."

"And we had a hotel room, I bet a lot of these people stayed here all night hoping for the flights to resume." Danny reminded her.

"Yeah." CJ's phone rang. "Yeah? Great, thanks." She hung it up. "Margaret, she said go stand in line at a counter, they're about to reopen. We already have tickets booked, but we should try to get a seat assignment before the crush begins."

The gathered their belongings and made it to the counter, where a harried employee pulled them aside. "Ms. Cregg?"

"Yes?"

Handing her three boarding passes, the woman told her, "The plane is almost ready to board, why don't you go stand over there? You can board as soon as we get any handicapped folks settled."

As they walked away, Danny said, "Well, must be nice to be so recognizable."

"Sometimes." CJ told him, glad for once it had worked in her favor.

They waited by their gate as the airport employees tried to calm people down and do their jobs. Their seats were called and they escaped to the relative quiet of the airplane.

"We even get to sit together." Danny grinned. "Who wants window? Aisle anyone?"

CJ bit her lip. "Can I request aisle, I'm too tall for inside seats."

"Carol, you want the window?" Danny asked her as they made their way to their row.

"Sure, thanks. If anyone wants to switch at any time..."

"Thanks, Carol." CJ smiled as her assistant slid into the seat. "We'll let you know."

"Wow, these seats are small." Carol commented. "Nothing like Air Force One, huh?"

It was only after sitting that CJ realized she was now stuck for about the next eight hours sitting practically in Danny's lap.

***

Part 4