Disclaimer: Like, oh my goodness! They're like totally not mine like for sure!

Note: I'm horrified to realize no stories have been posted for over a week, so here we go! After this I have a few more that I'm hoping to have the time to type up and post!

Summary: So, this was supposed to be a tiny story, 3 or 4 pages. I was going to write it and post it about 3 months ago... but that didn't happen, and now it's 56 pages long! And with school, I've had a hard time writing at all so a long story was not a good idea! But here you go, this is a weekend in the lives of the characters, but not just any weekend. Jed has some tricks up his sleeves and things work out... well, you'll see how they work out!

Slight spoilers for the movie "The Aviator", although I think if you saw a commercial for the movie you've seen anything I might mention. Set at the beginning of this season, you know, around the time I started writing the crazy thing! Still, it doesn't contradict anything that has happened, just shows a weekend that we didn't see on the show, hehe! Slight spoilers for the first 10 or so episodes of this season.

***

Thursday morning

CJ opened the door, a calm smile on her face. She knew that in just a few minutes, her smile would fade into a grimace or become a laugh. It all depended on the President's mood. Every morning it was the same thing, and she never knew until she walked through that door.

"Morning, CJ."

"Good morning, sir. How are-"

"Did you see this?" Jed waved a newspaper around, cutting off her question.

"I don't know, sir. My eyes can't focus with it flying around like that."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but stopped waving the paper to show it to her. "This story. This girl."

She glanced at it, then back at him. "I saw that story, yes."

"Isn't it great?"

"I suppose so, sir." She was struggling to follow, a common occurrence when talking with this man.

"Well, not that she was a victim of an attempted mugging."

"I didn't think you meant that, sir." CJ's calm look was becoming harder to maintain.

"She fought off her attacker, CJ."

She nodded. "I know, sir. Now if we could move on, we have a meeting-"

"I think the women around here should take self-defense classes."

CJ stared at him for a moment, then moved on. "I'll let them all know of your concern, sir. But for now, we should go over-"

"CJ."

She looked up from her clipboard of notes. "Sir?"

"I'm serious."

She sighed.

"This woman was surprised on her way into her apartment. She says she knew she needed to fight back or he might have really hurt her. Thank goodness she knew self-defense. I don't want any of my staff to be in a situation where they're defenseless."

She waited a beat, to see if he was done. "Sir, I appreciate that. And I know the rest of your staff would too."

"Good. I already told Charlie to start setting it up."

"Set it up?"

"A class. Here, on Saturday."

"Oh. And who is going to participate?"

"I'll get you a list. But be assured that you're on it."

"Oh." CJ's mind raced to come up with an excuse; she liked her dwindling free time.

"The Secret Service won't always be around. I need you to be safe." He sighed and looked up at her with a pained expression. "I don't know what I would do it you got hurt."

CJ swallowed roughly, her mind flitting to Zoey's disappearance as she heard Josh tell her the President thought of her as a daughter. She nodded, telling him, "Of course, Mr. President. I'll be there."

He smiled, relieved. "Great. You'll have the list later today. What's next?"

She quickly handed him his schedule for the day. He glanced over it.

"I have a meeting with the new Secretary of Defense this morning."

He nodded. "I'll try to poke my head in. Thanks, you can go."

She smiled. "Thank you, sir."

After she left, Jed called for Charlie. He held up his newspaper. "Find me the teacher who taught this woman self defense."

*** Thursday afternoon

The Senior Staff filed into the Oval Office.

"Oh great, you're all here. There's someone I want you to meet." Jed stared at his phone for a moment, then yelled, "Charlie!"

Charlie appeared, with a nervous looking woman.

"Come in, come in." Jed waved her in.

"Mr. President. It's an honor." The woman tried to smile and hide her shaking hands.

"Guys, this is Ms. Collins. She taught that girl to beat up muggers."

Josh grinned. "That's great! Nice to meet you."

Ms. Collins shook each of their hands. They pretended not to notice how much her hand was shaking.

"She's here to teach some of the women in the building how to fight."

Toby nodded. "Well, at least we know CJ doesn't need it. She has no problem fighting."

Josh hid a grin while CJ glared at Toby. "I'll show you later how good I am at kicking your-"

"CJ."

She stopped and turned to the President. "Sorry, sir."

"Everyone, back to your offices. I'll send around a list of participants for Saturday."

They filed out, leaving Ms. Collins with the President.

"Thanks for coming," Jed told her. "Those jokers will be in your class."

"Sir, I..." she swallowed, awed by the room as much as the man. "Usually, I just teach women."

He waved that away. "I think those guys need to get kicked around. Don't hurt them too much, just a little. You know, for fun."

She smiled. "Okay, Mr. President. I can handle that."

Jed called for Debbie and she appeared.

"Couldn't find the intercom?"

"Debbie, this is Ms. Collins."

"We met, sir. In your outer office."

"Ah, right. She's going to teach a self-defense class Saturday." He told her. "Clear your schedule."

"Thank you, sir. But no."

"Excuse me?" He stared at her.

"I don't need a self-defense class."

"Every woman should know how to defend herself." Ms. Collins broke in, then turned to the President in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, sir."

He waved it away. "That's fine. Debbie?"

"Sir, I have a black belt. I think I'd rather have some time off."

He laughed. "Time off?"

She sighed. "Worth a try, sir. I'll be here catching up on work."

"You have a black belt." The President thought about this for a moment. "Why am I not surprised?"

Debbie shrugged.

"You can go. And I'll see you soon, Ms. Collins. Thank you so much for helping us out."

She nodded. "Of course, sir. No problem at all."

Debbie moved past her and muttered, "Don't curtsy."

Ms. Collins smiled and followed Debbie out of the room.

***

Thursday night

"CJ."

She jumped up, pulling off her glasses as she did. "Sir, did you need something?"

He motioned her to sit. She moved to the chair when he took the couch. "I've got the list for the class."

"Oh." She forced a smile, thinking of all the work on her desk. "Great. I'm adding Carol, if that's okay with you, sir."

He nodded and handed her the list. She put her glasses back on to read it.

"No, sir."

"What's the problem?"

"You can't take this class." She pointed to his name.

"Why not?"

"I'm pretty sure the Secret Service would have a problem with your staff beating you up."

"Oh." He considered that. "So let's not tell them."

"Considering they follow you everywhere, I'm pretty sure they'd find out."

He nodded sadly. "I suppose you're right. We'll have to find another guy."

"We'll just grab an intern," CJ suggested.

He waved that away. "That's no fun. I'll figure something out."

"Okay," CJ agreed quickly.

"Go back to work."

She smiled. "Thank you, sir."

He left her office. Charlie was waiting for him in the Oval Office. "Josh wants to see you."

"Send him in."

Charlie nodded and left to get Josh.

"Josh, what's up?"

He grinned. "Did you read the position paper I left for you?"

"The Health Care Bill?"

"Yeah."

"Not yet. I did finish my list for Saturday's class."

"Oh, great."

"You're on it." Jed looked at his list. "We're one guy short, though, since CJ won't let me take the class."

Josh chose to let the second part of the statement go by. "Sam's in town this weekend."

Jed's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"I'll tell him to keep Saturday afternoon free."

The outer door opened.

Josh smiled. "Hello, Mrs. Bartlet."

"Hello, Josh. You almost done?" She asked Jed.

"I'm having dinner with my beautiful wife tonight."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, sir. I'll tell Sam."

Jed nodded. "Tell him two o'clock."

"For what?" Abbey broke in.

"Your husband has organized a self-defense class for some of his staff." Josh explained. "Sam's going to be in town for it."

"That sounds like fun."

"It's a great idea," Josh told her.

"Are you sucking up?" Jed asked.

"No sir. I was just thinking about Donna... and, you know, the rest of the women. I'd like them to be safer walking around DC."

"I want to take the class too."

"Abbey!"

"Oh, Jed, stop. I'd like Zoey to take it too."

"She's on the list." Jed told her.

"And I'm not?"

"You've got Secret Service."

"So did she," Abbey reminded him quietly.

His argument disappeared and he nodded. "You're right. Okay, you're on the list."

"Does that mean we need another guy?" Josh asked.

Jed nodded.

"Well," Josh hesitated. "I don't know how you'll take this suggestion."

"Spit it out."

"Danny Concannon has been doing a series on Sam, following him around."

"And he'll be in town this weekend." Abbey smiled. "Great idea."

"Abbey."

"Jed."

"I should go," Josh told them quietly.

Jed waved a hand, dismissing him. Once he was gone, Jed turned to Abbey. "CJ."

Abbey sighed. "Your term is almost over, Jed. Let her be happy."

"But the Press-"

"Won't care soon. I want CJ to be happy. Danny is the one for that. He's kept away this long because of you, give him some credit."

Jed considered this. "Charlie!"

Charlie stuck his head in. "Sir?"

Not taking his eyes from his wife, he told Charlie, "Call Josh. Tell him 'invite them both.'"

"Yes, sir." Charlie left.

Abbey smiled. "Good call, honey."

"You know, I wish I could walk her down the aisle."

"You assume they're going to get married. They may just move in together."

Jed clutched his chest. "Don't say things like that to me."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be married before the first child shows up." Abbey assured him.

He groaned. "Don't shatter my illusions. Next you'll be telling me my girls have had sex."

"Elizabeth has two kids."

"Immaculate conception." Jed answered quickly. "And not a word about my unmarried daughters."

Abbey laughed, patting his hand. "Let's go have dinner. And give me the list for the class."

He obliged. "I'll be up in a few minutes."

She nodded and left, skimming the list. "CJ, Zoey, Mallory, Debbie's name is crossed off, Donna, Carol. Toby, Josh, Charlie, Will, Jed. Thank goodness he crossed his name off." She pulled out a pen and wrote in her name, then Sam and Danny's.

"Six and six," she murmured, then smiled as she mentally paired up most of the names.

Humming to herself, she made her way to the Residence.

***

Friday night

"Two o'clock tomorrow." Josh nearly sang to CJ.

She smiled. "Sam here yet?"

"He's meeting us at the bar."

"Who else?"

"Everyone for tomorrow, except the First Lady. And I invited Margaret tonight. I thought it would be nice, since she's not taking the class tomorrow."

She gave him a confused look. "Wait. Go back. When did the First Lady get on the list?"

"Last night." Josh pulled out a list. "You must not have seen the final list. Read it while you walk, we're going to be late."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Already over there, we got stuck with the last of the paperwork tonight."

She grabbed her coat and bag to follow Josh out. As they walked down the road, she read the new list.

Suddenly she stopped walking.

"CJ."

"Josh."

"It's cold out here, keep walking."

"When were you planning on telling me?"

"Tell you what?" He grabbed her arm to get her to move.

She sighed. "Danny."

"He's doing a piece on Sam, so he's in town."

"So when you told me this morning about Sam, you didn’t think to tell me about Danny or Mrs. Bartlet?”

He shrugged.

"This is not good."

"He's already been cleared. And he knows it's off the record."

"Fine." CJ crammed the list into her pocket as Josh held the door to the bar open for her. "Let's get drunk."

Josh laughed and followed her into the bar. Suddenly she turned and he nearly ran into her.

"Danny's here," she whispered accusingly.

"Yeah."

"And he's flirting with Carol."

Josh grinned. "Yeah?"

"And Donna."

The grin faded. "What?" He pushed CJ towards the table and she let him.

"Hey guys." Sam greeted them with a grin, rising as they approached.

"Sam!" CJ grinned at her friend. "It's so great to see you." She threw her arms around him.

"I've missed you too, CJ."

Reluctantly she pulled away, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "How long are you in town?"

"Not long enough," Sam smiled sadly.

"Hey, CJ." Danny smiled smugly at her. "Do I get a kiss too?"

Amid smiles and laughs from the table, CJ shook her head and smiled sweetly. "You got one last time you were here." She sat down between Carol and Sam, across from Toby. "Don't glare at me like that, Toby, you knew about that."

"But some at this table don't." Toby told her.

"The Santa thing?" Zoey chimed in.

"Never mind." Toby told CJ.

Zoey shrugged. "Mom told me."

CJ shook her head. "Is there anything about the West Wing she doesn't know?" She felt Danny's eyes on her and knew he was thinking of their first kisses of so many years ago. He was seated on the other side of Carol. She quickly changed the subject. "I need a drink."

"I ordered you a grasshopper." Toby told her.

Her face brightened. "Really?"

"No." He shook his head as she glared at him. "I'm not a dandy."

"You sure?" CJ asked him. "Because I could tell everyone about that time in the gardens in Reno-"

"And then I'll discuss the mall in Michigan." He cut her off.

"Josh." CJ said, not taking her eyes from Toby.

"Yeah, okay. I'll go get myself a drink too." Josh stood and tossed Donna his phone. "Take pictures if I miss any physical fights."

"So how's the story about Sam going?" Margaret turned the attention to Danny.

"It's coming together."

Sam grinned. "I think Danny's trying to get me elected President."

"You certainly helped President Bartlet get there," Carol told Danny, who smiled shyly.

"He would have been elected no matter what I wrote," Danny protested. "We've all met him, he deserved to win."

CJ smiled at him.

"Is it true my father wanted to be in tomorrows class?"

CJ nodded at Zoey. "I told him no."

"Thank goodness," Charlie said.

Zoey smiled. "I don't know. It might be fun to beat my father up."

"I won't tell the Secret Service you said that." Charlie told her.

"You can hold that over her head." Mallory told him helpfully.

"Good plan, thanks for the advice."

Zoey frowned. "You're both off my Christmas card list."

"That's okay," Mallory said. "Ever since you stopped sending the ones with the macaroni attached, the appeal is gone."

"Is Josh making his beer?" Donna stretched to see the bar.

"No, he's flirting with the bartender." Margaret told her.

Donna shook her head. "And he's not even drunk yet."

Just then, Josh reappeared through the crowd, holding his and CJ's drinks. "She laughed at me," he told CJ as he handed her the grasshopper.

"I'm not sure that had anything to do with my drink."

"To friends." Sam held up his bottle of beer for a toast. They all clinked bottles and glasses and repeated his toast, then fell into a content silence.

"So," Will finally broke the silence with his first comment of the night. "A mall in Michigan?"

They all turned to Toby, but he wisely shook his head.

"Come on," Danny urged. "Story time among friends."

CJ smiled. "Let's start with the one about you and those ferocious dogs on that farm in Kansas during the campaign."

"Let's not," he answered good-naturedly. "I rather like the one about you and-"

"The pool," she interrupted desperately, knowing which story Danny was about to tell. It wasn't the pool story. He grinned at her as she continued. "Everyone knows the pool story."

"Dogs?" Will asked as a few of the people around the table giggled.

"Danny wandered into an area he shouldn't have been in and got attacked by these big scary dogs in the middle of the night." Donna told Will.

"He screamed like a girl." CJ interjected.

"They were big dogs!" Danny protested. "And I will continue to dispute the girly scream."

"It was a girly scream." Margaret told him decidedly.

"And they were cocker spaniels!" CJ reminded him.

"They were scary," Danny muttered.

"They were puppies," CJ argued. "And Donna tried to steal one."

"I did not!" Donna blushed. "I have no idea how Crackers got onto the bus."

"You named it Crackers?" Will asked.

"Him," Donna corrected. "I named him Crackers."

"You're all Crackers," Toby muttered and they giggled.

"We could discuss Zoey next." Charlie suggested.

"My father could fire all of you." Zoey reminded them.

"Except me." Mallory grinned.

"And me." Sam told her, then considered. "Although he could make my life difficult."

"I don't have any Zoey stories from the campaign." Mallory frowned. "I wasn't there."

Josh smiled at Sam. "Maybe you'll be on a campaign trail in a few years, Mal."

Sam looked away with a small smile, then turned to Mallory. "Let's get away from these people. Dance?"

She smiled at him and nodded.

Zoey jumped up too and tapped Charlie. "I want to dance."

"So?"

She sighed. "Some on, Josh. Charlie's scared."

Charlie watched the two couples leave and sighed in relief.

"You are scared." CJ grinned.

"Uh oh," Toby turned to Charlie. "CJ's just made it her mission to dance with you before the end of the night."

Charlie shook his head. "No way."

"You really think you stand a chance against CJ?" Toby chuckled. "That's so cute."

Charlie turned to CJ. "So, exactly how much do you like your desk?"

She scowled at him, the image of her desk collapsing in front of her flashing through her mind. "Fine, forget it."

"I'm scared of dancing too." Danny told them sadly.

"Liar," Carol said, then put her hand over her mouth. "Oops, sorry."

CJ laughed. "I was thinking the same thing."

Danny frowned at CJ, then turned to Carol. "Fine. Want to dance then?"

Carol smiled and stood. "Sure, let's go."

CJ watched them go, then turned her head to Toby.

"No."

She raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Not a chance."

Her mouth turned down in a pout but he shook his head and took a sip of his beer. "You know you're going to lose this one."

"I'll get you later." She drained her glass. "I need another drink, anyone else?" Toby held up his bottle, everyone else shook their heads. She headed for the bar.

"Think if we get smashed the President will let us off for tomorrow?"

Toby laughed at Will. "My bet would be he would make us work harder."

"Ah." Will pushed his bottle away.

"Although what's the quote? Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow you may die?" Toby continued.

Will pulled his beer back just as Danny got back to the table, followed by Zoey and Josh.

"Margaret?" Danny stood next to her. "Would you care to dance?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

They left the table, just missing CJ. She handed Toby his beer before sitting down.

"Come on, Charlie." Zoey was coaxing him. "Dance with me."

He sighed. "I don't know, Zoey. I'm not good, you know that."

She turned to the rest of the table. "Where's Sam when I need him?"

"It amazes me that he can dance," Donna mused.

"Because he's normally such a klutz?"

"Who's a klutz?" Danny asked from behind CJ, before reclaiming his seat and beer.

"Sam." Donna told him. "But he can dance very well."

"We could say the same about CJ." Toby told them.

She considered. "Well, the klutz part. I don't know about the dancing."

"We've all seen you dance." Toby glanced around the table. "I think we all have. And you're good."

She smiled shyly and looked down for a moment.

"CJ?"

She looked up at Danny.

"Want to dance?"

She glanced at Toby, but his expression was one of interest, not condemnation. She relaxed. "I'd love to."

He held out his hand and she gripped it. He led her to the dance floor, past Sam and Mallory still dancing close.

"Think there are wedding bells in their future?" CJ whispered as they began to sway to the music.

Danny smiled. "Wouldn't doubt it." After a moment of silence, he whispered. "Think there are wedding bells in our future?"

"Is that a proposal?" She shot back, though her mind was racing.

He laughed. "Wouldn't that be a cliché, walking back in here and proposing?"

"Yeah."

He studied her face. "How do you feel about clichés?"

"Danny." She shook her head. "My job takes up too much time and energy. Don't ask me."

"So when you're unemployed?" Danny ran his hands slowly down her back and she shivered before pulling away from him.

"Why don't we wait and see? For now, the music has turned fast, so maybe we should stop slow dancing."

Danny grinned, amused he hadn't heard the songs switch. He obliged and they fell to dancing again. The mood between them shifted with the shift in beat.

"This class tomorrow should be fun. Do you get to beat me up?"

She grinned. "I hope so. I can take out all my feelings for all those times you found a story I wanted hidden."

He cringed. "How long is the class?"

"Not long enough."

"I'm surprised I was included."

"That's Josh's doing, not sure who else was involved."

"And you found out..."

"When I walked into the bar tonight."

He nodded. "Ah, okay."

"So you danced with Margaret?"

"Yeah."

"Trying to wrap her around your finger like Carol?"

He grinned. "Margaret's a funny woman. She says the craziest things, yet you can't help but like her."

"So you have a thing for tall redheads?"

He laughed. "Only one tall redhead. The rest are friends."

"And Carol?"

"Ah, Carol. Yeah, her I'm in love with."

CJ laughed.

"I man, how could I not be?" Danny continued.

"I can see your point."

"You're okay with that?" Danny smiled.

"Sure."

The song ended and CJ pulled Danny back towards the table. As they passed Sam and Mallory, she whispered in his ear. "The music stopped, Romeo."

Sam blushed and smiled self-consciously as he led Mallory back to the table.

"Next dance, come on Josh." Donna was pleading with him when they got back to the table.

"Look who's back!" Josh grinned at them. "Toby said we have to go."

"One more drink." Toby clarified his position. "We all need to be up early to finish our real work before, you know, getting beat up."

CJ groaned. "Who's getting me my drink?"

They all looked at Danny, who held up his hands. "Don't look at me."

"Aren't you secure enough in your manhood to order that silly drink?" Zoey asked.

He shook his head. "Nope, someone else better go."

CJ sighed and stood up. She stopped to whisper in Danny's ear and run a finger down the back of his neck. His face turned red and he quickly took a gulp of his beer.

Nobody said anything for a few moments. Finally, Josh couldn't stand it.

"What'd she say?" He asked eagerly.

Danny tore his eyes from where CJ had disappeared into the crowd. "Nothing."

"Your face is the color of Carol's sweater." Josh observed.

Danny turned to Carol, seizing the opportunity to turn the attention from himself. "That's a nice sweater."

She gave him an amused smile. "Thanks."

"The color works for you."

"You're gay now?" Margaret asked him.

Toby nearly choked on his beer. "Don't tell CJ," he laughed.

"Tell me what?"

Charlie shrugged. "Danny's gay."

"Oh." CJ considered this as she took her seat. "Well, there go my plans."

"Really?" Danny turned to her, interested. "What plans were these?"

She sighed. "We talked about it while we were dancing, remember?"

He smiled faintly and she continued.

"I was going to set you up with Carol."

"Oh, is that what you were discussing with your hands in his back pockets?" Carol smiled.

Danny stared at her. "How did you-"

CJ cut him off. "My hands were not-"

Carol laughed, cutting them both off. "Toby and Zoey had an interesting show during their dance. They came back and told us all about it."

"You're a dead man, Tobias." CJ assured him. "And I will say again that I did not have my hand... where you say I did."

"I may have had my hands in your back pocket." Danny told her and she glared at him. "New subject," he announced. "Unless being gay somehow gets me into CJ's bed." At CJ's shocked expression, he shrugged. "I take that as a no. Close your mouth, CJ, it's not like there's anyone at this table that doesn't know how I feel about you."

The tabletop suddenly became very interesting for CJ. She sipped her drink as the talk drifted to sports.

Carol turned to her. "The world didn't end," she whispered. "And Toby's head hasn't exploded."

CJ risked a glance at Toby, relieved when she realized Carol was right.

"I bought a Red Sox shirt the other day," she told Carol, loudly enough for Toby to hear.

"I hope to use as a dust rag," Danny said.

She stared at him in dismay. "You too? Oh, no, this is not good."

"What's she babbling about?" Danny asked the rest of the table.

"She expects comments like that from Toby," Margaret told him. "Not you."

"I'm going home," CJ told the table.

"Need some company?" Danny immediately asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Don't push your luck, Concannon." Toby advised.

"I'm leaving too." Carol said. It was quickly decided to end the night for everyone and they headed for the exit.

"It's snowing." Sam said as they walked outside. They all stopped for a moment to watch it fall.

"There's something magical about snow." Mallory smiled dreamily.

"Until it shuts down the roads." Josh told her.

"Even then," she told him firmly. "Because then I get a snow day."

"Tomorrow's Saturday." He reminded her. "And we're only going to get a quarter-inch."

"True." She shrugged. "I'll see everyone tomorrow."

They exchanged good-byes and scattered, eager to get some sleep to be ready for the next day.

***