Disclaimer: I bought out the West Wing, so these characters are mine and I can do whatever I want with them... and then I woke up.

Note: Inspired by Kat, congratulations again!

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"Carol?" CJ hovered in the doorway between her and Carol's offices.

"Yeah?"

"Is Danny in the White House?"

"Yeah."

CJ looked away. "Can you find him for me?"

Carol looked confused, but nodded. "Yeah."

CJ stood a moment, then nodded and turned, going back into her office. She fiddled with a package on her desk as she waited, alternately talking herself into and out of what she was going to do. Thoughts of being unprofessional warred with her friendly feelings toward Danny.

"CJ?"

"Yeah, Carol?"

"Danny." Carol stepped aside to let Danny in, then closed the door behind him.

"Hey, CJ." He smiled at her. "What's going on?"

"I..." CJ took a deep breath and resolutely picked up the package. "Happy birthday."

"CJ!" His grin grew. "How did you- Oh, my personnel files."

"Carol found out out and told me." CJ looked down. "She thought I'd want to know."

"So you got me a present?"

CJ looked at the package in her hand. "Oh, yeah. Here, it's nothing big..."

He took it from her. "I'm sure it's great." Their eyes met and CJ swore the temperature in the room rose a few degrees.

She tore her eyes away. "Well, open it."

As he did, she fiddled with a pencil and looked everywhere but at him. He opened it to reveal a box for a frame. "A frame?"

"There's something in the frame, open the box."

"A used picture frame?" He teased her as he opened it. "Ooh, is it a picture of us? Where'd you get a picture of us?"

She laughed. "Just open it."

He pulled out the frame to see a piece of paper in the frame. "CJ?" He began to read and his eyes widened. "CJ?"

She smiled shyly. "Do you like it?"

"Where did you find it?" He fingered the words through the glass of the frame. "My first published article," he said, awe in his voice.

"Thank goodness for the Internet?" She tried to play it off, but he looked up and realized she was hiding something.

"Where did you really get it from, CJ?" He asked her quietly.

She looked away. "I... I called your parents. Their number is in your FBI file."

"You pulled my FBI file to find out my parent's phone number?" He asked, amazed.

"Yeah."

"Did you read the rest of it?" He was intrigued now.

Her eyes sparkled as she tried not to laugh. "Yes. Well, the parts that weren't classified."

His jaw dropped. "Classified?!" He swallowed.

"Danny!" CJ grinned at him. "Forget the FBI file."

He glanced down at the gift still in his hand. "Right, right. So did my parents send you this?"

"I called the paper, they had no problem doing a favor for me."

He laughed. "No, I bet they didn't."

"Well, I guess you should go back to work."

"You too." He reminded her.

"Right." She stood awkwardly. "I'll see you later."

Danny hesitated a moment, then closed the distance between them and kissed her cheek. He pulled away slightly and whispered, "Thank you."

She smiled and gently grabbed his shirt. She turned her head and kissed him softly on the mouth. "You're welcome," she whispered and smiled at the pleased expression on his face. "I'm going to get back to work."

"I'm going to... not get much work done." Danny told her honestly.

She blushed. "Go."

"One more." He told her, then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "Then I'll go." He touched her lips gently again, making sure he remembered every second she was in his arms.

She finally pulled away, smiling softly. "I'm glad you like the present. I wasn't sure..."

"It's perfect, CJ." He looked at it again, still holding one arm around her waist. "It was such an amazing feeling, having my first article published. Thank you for reminding me why I went into this business."

She pulled herself out of his arms, reluctantly. "Time for you to go back to that job."

"I'll be reading this all day and thinking about you." She blushed. "I'm not going to get much work done."

"Maybe it's a good day to slip some stories in that I want buried. I mean, if you're distracted..." She teased him and he grinned at her.

"Thanks again, CJ. I'll see you at the briefing."

She nodded as he left the room, clutching onto the frame as if afraid it would disappear. She gathered the wrapping paper and threw it out, smiling.

***