Title: "Sweep All the Secrets"

Author: CretKid and Rhonda Dossett

Category: implied CJ/Toby

Spoilers: general season 3; this takes place after "Indians in the Lobby"

Summary: "Would you do it all over right from the start?"

Disclaimer: Ain't mine. 'Nuf said.

Author's Notes: Well, this time Sarah asked for a story. Title and Summary come from Guster's "What You Wish For". Evelyn, you asked for a happy ending story; that will come next! Tentatively titled "Hold Off Choice", and as a follow up to "Hold Ground". Rhonda got me out of a bind when I got caught up watching a Trading Spaces marathon and lost my train of thought, so she's got a co-authorship! And I've given a name to this universe finally!

These, and other great stories, can be found at my web site: www.oocities.org/rdcottrell/fiction.html. Click on the Parachute link.

On to the show!

"Sweep All the Secrets"

==================

It had been a slow Friday night when Abbey showed up outside CJ's office door.

"Please tell me you're not here because my idiot husband decided to take a poll on where he should spend the first weekend of December," Abbey said, leaning on her cane.

CJ laughed and invited her to take a seat on the couch. "I'm just catching up on some reading." She joined the First Lady, carefully carrying her tea with her.

"I see. You're not keeping Carol here, are you?"

"Oh, no. I sent her home hours ago. Can I get you something to drink? I still have some hot water," CJ said, pointing in the general direction of the corner where a coffee maker sat on her cube fridge.

"No, I'm fine. So, where's the rest of Scooby's gang?"

Trying not to spew liquid all over Abbey, CJ bit her lower lip and slowly swallowed. "And Scooby would be?"

"My husband, of course," she replied with a wicked smile.

"I believe they are watching the Wizards play. Until Sam mentioned basketball on the wide screen at Hannigan's, I thought they had all decided to go see Harry Potter."

Abbey nodded knowingly. "Ah. And you didn't want to join them?"

The scowl CJ was sure on her face must have been the setting off point for the First Lady's unladylike howl of laughter.

"I have to live through Sunday afternoon football with those Neanderthals. I am not about to waste my Friday evenings doing the same," CJ countered.

"Good. Have you eaten?" Abbey stood and pulled CJ along with her, not waiting for an answer. "Join me for leftovers. My husband has decided to be a bore and hide away in his study for the evening and I don't like to eat alone."

"These wouldn't be Thanksgiving leftovers, would they?" CJ mentally shuddered at the thought of Thanksgiving leftovers for yet another meal. Her fridge and freezer were spilling over with turkey, dressing and pies galore despite the fact that she had not hosted dinner herself.

"In a way," Abbey answered with a mutinous look in her eye. "Since my husband decided we had to spend Thanksgiving here, I told him that the hard cider we served after dinner had to be Woodchuck's and not the slop that he thinks is palatable."

CJ had to suppress the urge to laugh out loud. "Since Woodchuck Cider is made in Vermont, I'm sure he had something to say about that."

The vicious sneering smile on Abbey's face was almost worth the price of admission. "And there's at least half a case left in the kitchen. Claudia Jean, let's get drunk."

As she followed the First Lady to the Residence Kitchen, CJ had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time she heard those words.

Abbey hobbled along as best she could with a cane to support her weight. The cast that she had been sporting for quite some time had recently been replaced with a walking one. CJ was fairly certain that though the First Lady was quite happy being aidlessly-mobile, her Secret Service attachment were none too happy with developments in her schedule.

No longer confined to the wheel chair, Abbey was like a kid sprung from school-day horrors on the first day of summer vacation. Nearly every invitation to leave the White House was accepted, be it a speaking engagement at a local women's club or a walk-through at the Cardio-thoracic unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Though it was part of CJ's job to be in the know about changes to the President's schedule, she often kept tabs on the First Lady's as well. It became handy when voracious reporters hell bent on discovering a rent in the fabric of the Bartlets' marriage asked why the First Lady was not appearing beside her husband at public events. No one seemed to care that she had been in a wheelchair for the better part of a month.

The agents had left them at the kitchen door. Abbey dismissed any cooking staff remaining and grabbed a platter of cold cuts and cheeses from the side by side fridge. CJ placed the platter on the island in time to catch the loaf of bread Abbey tossed over her shoulder. Another loaf quickly followed. Squeeze bottles of various condiments flew through the air with uncommon precision.

"Lettuce?" Abbey asked.

"Sure."

A head of lettuce was launched through the air.

"You know, if football was played with a head of lettuce, I'd watch," CJ said, placing it next to the rest of the food wares. "The game would have to end when the lettuce was gone. Just adds that extra bit of strategy, you know, to keep it from dwindling in size as the game progressed. Or maybe a cabbage."

Abbey stared at her with a dubious expression. "Are you sure you haven't been drinking tonight? Speaking of which," Abbey said, turning once again to the stashes hidden within the fridge and returning with three bottles held between the fingers of her right hand, "Amber, Pear or Granny Smith? Ellie took all the Dark & Dry back with her to Baltimore."

"Amber's fine, thank you."

After passing the bottle to CJ and replacing the unused bottle, Abbey bumped the fridge door closed with her hip. When Abbey could not twist the top off, she turned in place with her brow furrowed. "Bottle opener-- where the hell is it?"

"No need," CJ said, grabbing the bottle, setting the edge of the cap against the edge of the butcher block island and pushing against the top with the heal of her hand. "You'd think that one of those guys would carry a bottle opener on their key chains, but no. I've learned to improvise."

The bottle cap popped off with surprising ease and was soon followed by a small fountain of foam that dribbled over the side and onto CJ's hand.

"Well, what do you know? It is a twist-off." CJ handed the bottle back to Abbey and reached for a napkin to clean up the small spill on the table.

"You're lucky you didn't break the neck of the bottle," Abbey admonished her. She held up her bottle as if toasting with it. "Cheers."

"Cheers," CJ followed, and took a long draught. The first sip hit her empty stomach and she knew it wouldn't be long before she felt the alcohol induced flush on her face. "So, Ellie was down for Thanksgiving?"

Abbey nodded while reaching for plates and silverware. "She's just starting her second ER rotation in January."

"Ellie?! Last I heard she was interested in oncology."

"Surprised the hell out me when she told me after dinner." Abbey was smiling with maternal joy as she opened the bread bag. "During her Pediatrics rotation, the Attending supervising Ellie sent her down to the emergency room to help out with a bus load of kids that came in after an accident on the highway, and the ER Attending convinced her to stay and help with other Peds cases. She's been doing it ever since."

CJ was still shaking her head. "Ellie? Are we talking about the same daughter? Little Ellie who is known to jump to the ceiling when someone yells 'Boo!'? That Ellie?"

"One in the same."

"Ellie? No kidding?"

Abbey passed two slices of bread to CJ and then started building her own sandwich. "No kidding."

"Wow."

"Is it so hard to believe?" Abbey asked. "She is my daughter. And if you asked her father, he would say she is exactly like me."

"So I can expect to have a Dr. Abigail Bartlet Jr. running around when she finally gets her degree?" CJ looked to the ceiling. "God, save us all."

"It's a good thing I like you," Abbey playfully warned. "Don't think it outside the realm of my power to have you thrown in a dungeon or something."

CJ rose to the challenge, "Would that be the same dungeon the President threatens to throw his daughters in to whenever they try to date?"

"He threatens to throw me in there too when I try to get him to do something he doesn't want to do," Abbey replied under her breath. "Speaking of dating, what did you do for Thanksgiving?"

CJ looked up from her sandwich making, suspicious of the knowing tone in Abbey's voice. The mischievous look was back in Abbey's eye. Abbey was spreading a layer of mustard on one slice of bread with surgical precision.

"Why do I get the feeling you already know?"

Abbey shrugged. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

CJ decided it would be easier overall if she didn't fight fate. "Toby's brother invited him to spend Thanksgiving in Maryland and Toby extended the invitation to me." She took another long sip of her cider, knowing she was about to face a gauntlet of questions.

Thanksgiving dinner had been pleasant enough. She had first met David and his wife at Toby's wedding. His wife, an exceptionally bright and cheery personality, had been pregnant with their first child at that time. David was soft spoken, much like Toby was, but stiff and wooden. During the interim time, David had not changed much at all, as she discovered when he greeted them at the door. The children, 2 boys and a girl between the ages of 7 and 13, seemed a mixture of their father's intensity and their mother's frivolity.

The food was wonderful, the company warm and welcoming, but by the time dinner, dessert and coffee were over, she had been more than ready to go home. Toby must have felt the same way as he followed her out, tailing her on the highway until she reached home.

The following day, Toby showed up on her doorstep with several bags of leftovers, deciding it was better to share the wealth then let the food spoil in his own often forgotten refrigerator. They had had a relaxing lunch and watched Tracy and Hepburn movies all afternoon.

Not that she was going to share all that with Abbey. Then there would be no end to the questions.

Abbey hummed quietly to herself as she finished making her sandwich, smiling with a satisfied-with-self smirk.

CJ couldn't help but laugh. "Don't hum at me with that tone of voice."

Abbey looked about, not the least bit abashed. "I didn't say anything."

Waving a piece of turkey wrapped in swiss cheese like a baton, CJ said, "You know, this is the reason why I don't go home for holidays. Why go across the country to develop a family-induced ulcer when I can stay right here. You are worse than my mother."

"I have to get my needling in somehow," Abbey explained, cutting her sandwich with a bread knife. "Liz isn't around, Ellie won't tell me anything and Zoey just starts rolling her eyes at me the minute I start to ask questions. You're the only one I can bait."

"Wonderful." CJ sighed and polished off the rest of her cider.

"I'm just teasing you," Abbey said, patting CJ's hand. "Eat your sandwich before all that alcohol goes to your brain. Or, better yet, have another cider. Maybe if I get you all liquored up, you'll start sharing details."

CJ mock scowled as she donned the finishing touches of her sandwich. She grabbed a handful of carrots and celery sticks from the cold cut platter and dropped them on her plate. "There are no details to share."

"Of course there are details!" Abbey insisted. "You've known Toby since God made dirt."

CJ's reply was dripping in sarcasm. "Gee, has it been that long?"

"And if you say there are no details, then you are lying through your teeth. There is no way on God's green earth that there isn't some sort of history between you two, and by golly, I'm going to weasel it out of you, be it by hook or by crook."

"I'd like to see you try," CJ challenged, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Oh, don't worry, I will."

Abbey was giggling to herself as she fetched another round of ciders from the refrigerator. CJ thought it sounded particularly evil and not becoming of a First Lady.

"I've never met Toby's brother," Abbey mused, opening another bottle for CJ. "What's he like?"

Laying down her half-eaten sandwich, CJ took a sip of the amber liquid while thinking of an adequate response. Staring at the industrial sized refrigerator in front of her, she pensively answered, "He's very intense and absorbed, very focused on his work."

"Sounds like Toby," Abbey responded with a wry smile.

"Maybe," CJ agreed, "but only in some respects." Taking another drink of the cider, she added, "Toby only masquerades as being detached. I think David really is that way."

"I would hazard a guess that you're one of only a few people in the world who could see a difference," Abbey reflected. "Whether you realize it or not, Toby only lets you see the man behind the curtain. He doesn't let the rest of us get beyond the outer facade."

CJ stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging off a response. "I never let him get away with hiding anything from me."

"Why?" Abbey asked. "Why do you make the effort?"

"I…" CJ paused, confusion shadowing her features. "Is this a trick question?"

Abbey smiled, folding her arms across her chest. "Whatever do you mean, Claudia Jean? It's a very simple question. How do you feel about Toby Ziegler?"

"I am SO not getting into this with you again, Abbey," CJ said with a snort of laughter. She got off her stool in an attempt to put a little bit of distance between them. "Nice try."

"Please?" Abbey begged like a kid in the candy store. "Just a few details."

"No."

"Just something to tide me over until I can wheedle Ellie into telling me all about the cute boy doing his ER rotation with her."

CJ huffed, "Like Ellie would ever give you any of those details."

"Exactly," Abbey proclaimed, bouncing her fist off the butcher block. "Which is why I want details from you."

"No!"

"Please?"

"NO!"

"Has he ever kissed you?"

CJ crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the rack of pots and pans behind her, praying to the ceiling. "Oh god."

"Have you ever kissed him?"

"I just said--"

"And I don't mean the platonic peck on the cheek 'we just won the Illinois primary' type kiss either, I mean--"

CJ threw her arms in the air. "Yes, for gosh sake. If it will shut you up, yes!"

Abbey sat up, stunned. "Really?"

"You've been on this little fishing expedition of yours for I don't know how long and now you're going to question me when I finally start to tug on your line?" CJ asked, exasperated.

She walked back over to the table and grabbed her cider, taking a long pull from the bottle. Abbey was looking at her questioningly, beckoning for more details with a wave of her hand.

CJ sighed and sat back down on her stool. "For a short time, we made out like bunnies. Wrap your warped little mind around that for a while."

"Oh, don't worry, I plan to. So, what happened?"

"What happened what?" CJ replied, being obstinately obtuse. She took another long sip.

"Don't play coy now."

Shrugging her shoulders, CJ again crossed her arms over her chest, carefully cradling the cider against her chest. "Toby went to New York. I stayed in California. End of story."

"CJ, that's not the end of the story. If it was the end of the story, you wouldn't be here," Abbey exclaimed, waving one arm to emphasis the 'here'.

"Abbey, you know Toby came to California to offer me a job on the campaign. Hell, everyone knows that. I had just lost my job and came home to find him drinking coffee on my patio. I was so surprised to see him I fell in the pool."

Abbey nodded. "But that doesn't explain why you agreed to join the campaign." Holding up her hand, she added, "And don't give me any crap about wanting to be a part of something bigger or wanting to get my husband elected. You didn't even know him when you accepted the job. You joined because Toby asked you to!"

Frowning at the First Lady, CJ sarcastically answered, "If you know all the answers, why keep asking me questions?"

"Okay, here's one I don't know the answer to," Abbey exclaimed. "If you had it to do all over again, would you do it any differently?"

"No," CJ whispered staring at the half-empty bottle in her hand. "Even knowing what I know today, I wouldn't change a thing."

Her voice breaking a little, CJ looked up and stared into Abbey's concerned face. "Isn't that pathetic. Even with all the pain of the last year, I wouldn't change a thing."

"Not pathetic CJ," Abbey softly responded, "Just understand that it's not just this job keeping you here."

Startled, CJ opened her mouth to respond but no words came out.

Abbey just nodded and pushed another cider across the table towards her.

END