All characters belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells Productions, Warner Bros., & NBC. The title is from George Thorogood; some lines are inspired by Neil Gaiman. Standard disclaimers apply. Please send feedback.
Going To War
Luna/Violet
It was quarter after five in the morning when Leo walked into his office, the lines of weariness even more vivid on his face than usual. He shrugged out of his coat, sat down behind his desk, and took a sip from a frigid cup of coffee he'd left half-finished on his desk.
Josh knocked on the open doorway of the office. "Hey."
"You're still here?"
"Yeah, I was going to leave, but--" He waved a hand vaguely. "It's not important. You're not going home?"
Leo rubbed his eyes. "You're surprised by that?"
"No. What's the President doing now?"
"He's in the Residence. It was a rough night."
"Two nights," Josh corrected him. "It's been two nights and a day since the State of the Union. And you know what?"
"You still haven't changed your shirt?" Leo guessed, as he put his glasses on to read a memo.
Josh looked down at himself. "I didn't even think of that. No, I was going to say we're still getting good buzz. We're riding high for the first time since this summer."
"Yeah."
"This is a good time."
"Forgive me if I'm not doing the dance of joy."
Josh sat down in the chair facing Leo's desk. "Joey Lucas thinks this is the time to dial it up on gun control. She says the numbers from the Midwest are lying."
"The pollster says the numbers are lying?"
"Yeah."
Leo shook his head wryly. "Tell her that her honesty is refreshing."
Josh looked up. "Why would you think I'd be talking to her?"
"Isn't she coming in this morning to go over the revised numbers with you?"
"Yeah, but it's not like I'm going out with her or anything," Josh said defensively.
"I never thought you were."
"Why not?"
Leo stared at him. "Josh, are you trying to make my head explode?"
Sam strolled into the office. "Morning."
"That's what it is," Leo agreed.
"It's not impossible that I could have been going out with Joey Lucas," Josh continued. "I'm just saying I'm not."
"You should," Sam said, then turned to Leo. "I have a meeting with Eugene Atreytat. He wants to talk about school uniforms."
"You have to love the ACLU," Leo replied.
"You still think I should go out with her?" Josh put in.
"Yes. Donna's right. So I'm telling Atreytat that we're pretty sure about the Constitutionality of this program -- is Constitutionality a word?"
"No," Josh said.
"Yes," Leo contradicted him. "And make sure he understands that this position is tied pretty closely to hate crimes."
"Okay."
Josh tilted his chair back and regarded Sam. "See, because Joey seems to think that Donna has a crush on me."
The other men stared at him. "That's... that's just wrong," Sam managed, after a moment.
"Maybe not. Maybe she likes me."
"That would be like that guy who found out his ex-girlfriend was his biological sister."
Josh blinked. "What?"
"I saw it on 'Dateline'. You know the kind of thing." Sam steeled his features and affected a stentorian voice. "A baby goes into the water. What would you do? Here's Maria Shriver."
Josh chuckled. Leo glared back and forth between the two of them. "Either of you got a single reason I shouldn't fire you?"
"We're impervious," Josh offered.
Sam took a seat on Leo's couch. "How was tonight?"
"Have you ever watched a military funeral?"
"No."
"I've been to several," Leo said quietly. "A plane full of American soldiers down...."
In the quiet moment that followed, Leo could see the stars and stripes again, draped over nine perfect rectangles.
"You guys made the right decision last night, you know," Josh said.
"I know."
"So. Like I was saying."
Leo sighed. "Josh, if I hear one more word about your love life, I swear to God I'll give Donna your job and start you working in the Mess."
Josh sounded affronted. "I was going to say I think Joey's right that we should get aggressive. We should do this for real. We're up in the polls, we're gearing up. This is our moment. This is our opportunity. This is our--"
"--Shvuntz!" Toby growled emphatically in Leo's outer office.
"He is not," they heard C.J. retort. "Well, yes. He is. But I've worked with Mark, and he's always been decent to me. Which is, frankly, more than I can say for--"
"Do I have to separate you two?" Leo wondered as they filed into the office.
"Sorry." C.J. perched on the chair beside Josh. "Tonight went all right, I thought."
"As well as it could," Leo agreed. "Your briefing was good."
"How's the President?"
"About how you'd expect."
"Seth Gillette's threatening to run against us," Toby informed the staff.
Sam groaned. "Because we don't have enough to worry about."
"Don't worry about him." He paced along the wall. "I will not let him split this party, if I have to stalk him and hold him down myself."
"You don't think he's a credible threat," Leo surmised.
"I think he's almost as big a shvuntz as Mark Gottfried." Toby ignored the look C.J. shot him and turned to Leo. He lowered his voice. "Dover?"
"Yeah." Leo looked down at the papers on his desk. "Okay. All of our time would be better spent if you'd all get out of here." He glanced pointedly at Josh. "And take a shower or something."
"So none of us went home yet," Sam mused as he got to his feet, stretching.
"I did, for fifteen minutes," C.J. said.
"That doesn't count."
Toby looked at Leo as he spoke to Sam. "We had better things to do."
The staff started to troop out. Josh paused on the threshold. "I wish I'd gone with you to the thing."
Leo frowned. "No, you don't."
"I mean it, Leo." Josh leaned on the doorway. "I really think it's time. It's time to fight."
He raised his eyes and met Josh's gaze. "Yes, it is. And we will."
Josh nodded and walked away. Leo started to go through paperwork again, but allowed himself a moment to take a breath. He could still see the American flag, and he knew it was true.
It was time to go to war.