All characters belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells Productions, Warner Bros., & NBC. The title's from the song "The First Noel." Standard disclaimers apply. Please send feedback.
By The Light Of That Same Star
Luna/Violet
Toby placed the past month's itinerary in a folder with a small smirk of satisfaction. The bluegrass interpretation of "Away In A Manger" had sent a clear message about his views on holiday festivities, but it was probably the bagpipes that had clinched the deal. There would be no more teasing on the subject, no more comments about Grinches and Scrooges and--
"Toby doesn't like to make toys!"
"Toby doesn't like to make toys?"
"Toby doesn't like to make toys!"
"Shame on you!"
C.J. and Sam stood in his doorway, failing to repress giggles as he glowered up at them. "Funny. Do I have to remind you that I know where you each live? That I can very easily contact the Duncan MacWhatever Pipers Regiment, and dispatch them to your homes?"
"God help us," C.J. said soberly, sitting down on the corner of his desk.
"The two of you have nothing more useful to do with your evening?"
Sam smiled brightly, leaning on the door frame. "We're irrepressible."
"That's not the word I would have chosen. Do you want something, or did you come especially to harass me?"
"That was just payback for subjecting us to 'O Holy Night' on the trombone," C.J. told him. "We're on our way out for a beer. Do you want to come?"
"No, no, no. Not if the words 'Christmas cheer' are going to pass anyone's lips at any point in the near future."
"We'll drop the subject," Sam promised. "No holiday stuff."
"And no caroling?" Toby cast a distrustful glance at C.J.
"Thanks to your little foray into the music business, I'd be happy never to hear another Christmas song," she assured him.
He scanned the papers spread out in front of him. "I have to finish up here."
"We'll wait." Sam walked the rest of the way into the office and dropped into a chair. "C.J., you didn't finish what you were asking me before we came down here."
"I wanted to ask Toby too."
"Okay, the odds are fairly good I'll regret this," Toby predicted bleakly. "What?"
"Do you think that we're lousy friends?"
"Yes," Toby said firmly.
She was taken aback. "Really?"
"Absolutely. You're both insufferable, insensitive people and no one in his right mind would associate with either of you. What the hell, C.J.?"
Sam leaned forward in his seat. "So, wait, you think we're bad friends? Or are you--"
"People tolerate you," Toby said dryly. "God knows why, but I put up with you both. I suppose you're not horrible, though I reserve the right to change my mind. Honestly, who thinks about this kind of thing?"
"The subject came up," Sam explained quietly. "We were talking about Josh."
Toby hesitated in the act of shuffling some papers. "Oh."
"Everyone's worried." C.J. stood up and stretched, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand. "First it was the thing with the pilot--"
"The meeting in the Oval," Sam contributed.
"Yeah, and the way he was at the party, and then the cut on his hand. I'm scared for him."
"We all have been," Toby said. "I'm relieved that Leo sent him to the ATVA people."
"Do you think that will work?" Sam wondered.
"I've never been in therapy." C.J. seemed amused by this. Toby ignored her. "I assume they'll help him find a way to deal with the trauma. It's what they do."
"But we're his friends," she mused. "Shouldn't we have been doing that already?"
Sam looked at her. "You think there were warning signs we didn't see?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. We see Josh every day, I'd like to think we'd pick up on his signals." She paced over to the couch and sat down. "I just don't know. We've been worrying about him all month. What I'm saying is, why haven't we been worrying about him since the summer?"
"So much has been happening. Josh seemed to be doing fine."
"I know. But how could this come out of nowhere? Maybe we were all so caught up in getting ourselves together and getting back to work...."
"My God." He looked at his hands. "We're terrible friends."
"I know!" C.J. sighed. "We should have known he wasn't doing fine. We should have done something a long time ago."
"No," Toby said suddenly, without raising his eyes from the files he was organizing. "You shouldn't have."
They stared at him. He shrugged. "Working through things is what we do."
Sam started to protest. "Not at the expense of--"
"At the expense of just about everything, or we wouldn’t be here right now. Once we were sure Josh was going to make it...." He lowered his voice as they all tried not to think about the hours they'd spent in the hospital waiting room. "Once we knew that, we went back to work."
"That's how we dealt with it," C.J. said thoughtfully.
"Josh did the same thing. That's how he made it back." He closed his desk drawer, folded his arms, and regarded Sam and C.J. "There's an obvious reason why he didn't show signs of this before."
Sam nodded slowly. "He wasn't ready."
"He wasn't ready," Toby agreed. "You think it would have helped if we'd forced him to talk about it?"
"No," C.J. admitted. "Still, I wish there was a way we could have been there for him ahead of time."
"We're here now." Sam's eyes brightened. "We should go get him a present. There are only two shopping hours left."
Toby grimaced. C.J. looked interested. "Do we know what he would want?"
"I'm not sure. We could ask Donna," Sam offered.
"To tell us what he wants, or to gift-wrap herself?" C.J. grinned wickedly. "No, but she's not here anyway. She went with Josh."
"Oh. Right. Well, we could break into his office and see what we could find out."
"You want to talk about lousy friends?" Toby raised his eyebrows. "Do I have to call Security to get you two out of here?"
"They wouldn't do that," C.J. said complacently. "They like us."
"I'll call the bagpipers and invite them for a return engagement. Hell, I'll call the Banjo Brigade back if I have to."
Sam groaned. "Not the 'Deliverance' Christmas spectacular."
Toby attempted to conceal his amusement behind an aggressively stern expression. Josh heard C.J. and Sam laughing as he came down the hall. He observed his friends and a smile played across his face. "You guys are still here, huh?"
"Hey." Sam turned. "We didn't know if you'd be back tonight."
He came a little way into the room. "I'm not staying long."
C.J. got up. "How was it?"
"It was...." Josh could see the obvious concern in the way they were all watching him. He frowned slightly and took a breath. "It was a pain, but it turned out all right, I think."
"Good." She touched his arm gently. "We're going out for a drink."
"On Christmas Eve? Will anything be open?"
"Who knows?" Sam got to his feet. "We'll find something. Want to come with?"
Josh shook his head. "Do you know if Leo's still in his office?"
"Didn't see him leave," Toby said.
"I should go talk to him and... you know." He looked back at them earnestly. "But thank you."
"It's no problem." As he started out of the room, Sam and C.J. began to follow him. She paused in the doorway. "Hey, Ziegler the elf. I'm buying. Are you coming?"
Toby walked around his desk. "If you cut that out, I might."
"Thought so." She smiled. "Lead the way, Sam."
"Every Christmas it's the same," Sam deadpanned. "I always end up being a shepherd."
Josh chuckled softly. "I'll be in tomorrow."
"Good," Toby said, quietly.
Sam adjusted his coat. "Hey, Josh. How cold is it out there?"
"It's chilly," he said, turning back to meet their gaze. "But it's a nice night."