"This," CJ looked down at the offending photo in her hand, "is completely ludicrous. I can't believe you even brought it to me Danny. I mean come on, this amateur hour. This is National Enquirer. Someone obviously doctored this and…"

"CJ, stop." Danny touched her shoulder, well aware of her ability to ramble on and on when she was nervous. "Do you honestly think that I would come to you with this if I hadn't already checked it out. It's not doctored."

"Where did you get it?"

"That's not important."

"It sure as hell is. I want to know where you got this picture, Danny."

"I'm not going to tell you that CJ, but I will tell you that it was a person who would benefit from something like this getting out which is why I made damn sure that it was not a doctored photo."

"It HAS to be Danny. My God, I've known these people for four years now."

"I feel the same way. That's why I brought it to you first. I followed Abbey Bartlet all through the campaign. I practically had unlimited access to her. I saw how extremely close she and the President are. I saw how she brightened up whenever their paths crossed. I was just as shocked, as you are to see this. That's why I want to know if there is some kind of explanation. I mean, I don't know how you'd explain that but I wanted to give you a shot at it."

"There is no way Danny. She and the President are so close. You SAW them tonight. Even though they've been together forever you can still see what they feel for each other in their eyes. When one of them walks into a room the other is in, there is some kind of magnetic pull between them that even I've been able to feel. Do you know how rare that is? Hell, the guys were all just joking tonight about how the President and First Lady were giving new meaning to the term "recreation room". I've never seen any…" Her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes against the images of last summer in Maine. Of sitting on the Bartlet's porch and the look of pure longing that filled Leo's eyes as he watched the President and First Lady all curled up and cuddling on the porch swing. She thought of all the averted glances and the strange suspicions she had had. And, even more damning, she remembered Leo's ire tonight with the guys over their jocularity about the First Couple getting it on on the pool table. He certainly hadn't been himself.

"What is it CJ? You've seen something, haven't you?"

"No." CJ's answer was too quick, too forced. Danny knew that she was lying.

"I've seen something too. I was watching Leo tonight. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Marbury made those comments about grabbing the First Lady's boobs."

"He was being protective." CJ defended her boss.

"If that's all it was then why did he step forward like he was going to wring his neck, then step back when he saw the President move."

"Like I said. Leo is old fashioned and he's protective of us women."

"It was more than that CJ and I think you know it. The look that I saw after he made that move was one of pure guilt. He was looking all around to make sure that no one had seen him."

"It's just so unbelievable." CJ glanced back down at the black and white photo. In that picture was something that just would not compute in her brain, something that defied any comprehension. Out on a patio and dressed in evening attire stood Leo McGarry and Abigail Bartlet. Only they weren't just standing, they were kissing, and in a way that suggested lovers, not friends. They were mouth to mouth and Leo had one hand on Abbey's rear. The material of her skirt was bunched up in his fist as he tried to lift it while his other hand was cupped neatly over her breast.

"Do you think the President knows?" Danny asked.

"Are you KIDDING me? I mean good lord, Danny. Are you out of your COTTON PICKING HEAD! IF and I do mean this is a big IF, anything went on between Abbey and Leo there is NO way that the President could know."

"You sound pretty sure."

"Oh, I'm positive. You may have traveled extensively with the First Lady but I've done the same with the President and sometimes both of them. The man definitely has a jealous streak in him and he can be quite possessive when it comes to her. I mean my God; it was a nightmare to get to him to appoint Ron Ehrlach as the new Fed. Chair, simply because he and Abbey once dated for a few months in college. How long ago was that? Certainly a lot longer than when this photo was taken. I can't imagine that the President would know about something like this and still have the kind of friendship that he has with Leo."

"I see your point. I guess if I knew that my wife had an affair with my best friend I wouldn't have appointed him my Chief of Staff and I certainly wouldn't want him to have as much access to her as Leo does."

"They did not have an affair."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't, not for sure. But, somehow I just can't believe it of either of them. Yes, I've seen Leo give Abbey some looks, but hell she's always getting looks. I'd get those kind of looks too if I had a nice curvy body like that."

"Abbey is pretty bodacious, but you're not so bad yourself," Danny grinned. " I happen to like my women long and lean."

"Well maybe you're an aberration. I didn't see Lord John Marbury salivating and asking to grasp my tiny little molehills."

"He doesn't know what he missed," Danny said solemnly.

"Somehow I don't think he's crying in his tea about it. But, what I'm trying to say is that whatever happened here, it couldn't have been an affair. No matter what he might feel for her, Leo loves the President. He is like a brother to him and he would never do anything to hurt him. And Abbey is completely wrapped up in the President. I've never seen her look or react to Leo in any way more than a sister/brother or best friend way. If Leo had been her lover don't you think she might once in a while betray that?"

"I don't know. All I know is THAT picture is definitely not two best friends kissing. Bring it to the President. If there is an explanation let me know. If not, be prepared for all hell to break loose."

"When I show this picture to the President all hell IS going to break loose," CJ muttered under her breath.

* * * *

With barely a few hours sleep CJ found herself back at the White House for an early morning strategy session in the Oval Office. She couldn't help but eye the three principal players in the drama that had been running in her mind all night long. The First Lady sat on the couch wearing jeans and a simple blue checked blouse. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was sleepily sipping from a mug of hot coffee. CJ knew that in two hours Abbey would be sitting in front of the camera's in one of her professional First Lady suits, as she called them, charming her interviewers and dazzling them with her smile. But right now she was still simply Abbey, and as such, she was still tired and a little unsure of how her decision was going to go over. The fact that it had been a very difficult decision was apparent in the slight strain in her face and her monosyllabic answers to their questions.

The same strain showed on the President's face as he sat beside his wife and took her hand in his while his staffers coached her on what she should say, how she should react and how he should react to any questions on the issue. There wasn't anything in their demeanor that CJ hadn't seen a hundred times before. That quiet supportiveness had been there since the first time she had met them and that had never wavered.

Her attention turned to Leo. He was the wild card in this whole scenario. He was the only one both she and Danny had seen react out of character. This morning it was easy to see that he was trying to tip toe along the line between friendship and chief of staff. She could tell that it was hard for him to give Abbey orders and instead left that up to his underlings. Still, there was nothing overtly showing to suggest that he felt anything improper.

As the meeting came to a close Leo addressed an issue that had puzzled them all throughout the morning.

"Sir, what exactly is all that banging outside?"

"Those are the carpenters I hired to put together a swing set for the twins. I figured that if I had him set it up here in the garden I can watch them play from my window and go out and visit."

"Are they going to be banging like that all day?" he complained. "I won't be able to hear myself think."

"Be thankful Jed's not putting it together himself, " Abbey warned. "Remember that first swing set you put together when we moved to the farm?"

"Be fair, Abbey, " Jed protested. "The directions were in Spanish."

"A language you happen to speak, darling mine. Anyway, he finishes putting the whole thing together and he tells me in his best frugal Yankee voice about all the waste involved by the company putting in all these "extra" parts. He had a PILE of unused parts." She laughed softly at the memory. "So he picks up poor little Elizabeth and is going to put her on the swing and I just kept seeing that pile of parts and picturing that whole swing set collapsing on my little girl. I made him put her down and told him that I would try it out first."

"What happened?" CJ grinned.

"Yes, what did happen, dumpling?" Abbey batted her eyes sweetly at her husband.

Jed muttered under his breath so that nobody could hear him. "You fell on you cute little ass."

"I'm sorry. Did you say something, Jed? I don't think anyone heard you. Did any of you hear him?"

"No" was the response from the room.

Jed scowled at them. "I said that you FELL on your CUTE LITTLE ASS, OK?"

"That's better, " Abbey grinned and tweaked his chin.

With the meeting over CJ was feeling much better. She was more convinced than ever that there was just no way what happened in that picture had actually happened. Somehow that photo had to be wrong. Sure that somehow it had to have been doctored she made the decision to have her own experts check it out. She gathered her papers together and as she turned to leave it hit her as if she had walked into a brick wall. The look on Leo's face was the same look that she had seen on the Bartlet's porch in Maine. It was a combination of love and longing and pain. Feeling slightly nauseous, CJ turned to see what he was looking at. The President and First Lady were walking out the door together. The President's hand had slipped from the small of his wife's back down to rest intimately on her bottom. They were both still arguing and laughing over the earlier swing set story.

When CJ turned back ready to confront Leo with his feelings, his eyes were shuttered and all the emotion was gone. Just like that he had closed them off. She had no way of knowing just how adept he had become at doing that. She had no idea of just how many years he had been closing himself off like that.

Feeling disheartened and now very unsure that she would find the photo to be doctored, CJ left the Oval Office and made her way to hers.

"You got a minute?" Toby asked.

"Just about that. What's up?"

"That's what I want to ask you. You were watching people like a hawk this morning. Especially Leo. I know Danny saw you late last night. Is there something that I should know about?"

"No, Toby. It's nothing, " CJ lied.

"Don't cover up for him, CJ. We need to confront this if we're going to help him. Leo's drinking again, isn't he?"

"What?" CJ looked puzzled, then burst into laughter. "No, Toby, Leo is not drinking again. Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. He's been acting strange lately. I mean the way he snapped at Sam and Josh yesterday was not like him. He's also been kind of jumpy lately as if he is guilty about something. Now today I see you watching every move he makes. I guess I just assumed you knew something that we didn't "

CJ thought for a moment. She hated to show the picture to anyone until she knew its validity. Then again maybe Toby could help her put it into perspective. She made a snap decision and pulled the 8X10 out of the manila envelope to hand to him. She watched Toby's eyes widen with disbelief and heard the low hiss of a whistle. Finally he looked up at her.

"This is tabloid stuff, CJ. Why do you even have this? Who gave it to you?"

"Danny Concannon."

"DANNY gave this to you?" The hairs on the back of Toby's neck prickled at hearing the Pulitzer Prize winning journalists name. With that name came an awareness of the ramifications that could occur if the photo were made public. "Danny doesn't deal in rumor and gossip, " he said finally.

"No he doesn't. That's why he brought it to me first. If there is any kind of explanation for this he wants to hear it."

"What kind of explanation could there be? There is just no way this happened."

"I thought the same thing. But, now I don't know."

"Oh come on, CJ. Leo and ABBEY?"

"I know it sounds ridiculous. But, I've seen the looks he gives her sometimes when he doesn't think anyone is watching. I can't explain it, but it isn't the pure lust or appreciation that I've seen in other men's eyes when they check her out. It's some kind of painful yearning. He's very good at hiding it, but I've seen it a few times now. I'm not crazy, Toby. Danny's seen it too."

"And you honestly believe that he screwed around with his best friends wife?"

"No. That's the part that I can't reconcile. I can't see Leo or Abbey behaving that way. Abbey loves the President with all that she is."

"And I know exactly how both of them feel about adultery. Way back when I first met the President I asked him to be straight with me and let me know right from the start if we had to worry about any bimbo eruptions. He flipped a gasket and I got my first glimpse of the famous Jed Bartlet temper. After lecturing me about the sacred vows of marriage, he told me that if he cheated on Abbey she would cut his balls off and then she would divorce him. I know he was joking about that last part but I don't think it was entirely a joke. Adultery is not a joking matter to him."

"Abbey takes monogamy just as seriously," CJ concurred. "During the campaign she and I were talking about the same thing. Someone brought up our former President who didn't believe that he commited adultery because he had done everything but have intercourse with another woman. According to Abbey that was complete crap. She told me that if you are married even kissing a person other than your spouse is a form of adultery. She talked about how infidelity goes right to the heart of a marriage and that women seem to understand that better than men, which is why fewer women cheat. She felt that there was absolutely nothing more destructive to a marriage than adultery and that it went against everything she was taught to believe in from both her parents and her church. I just can't believe that the woman who spoke so passionately about the importance of fidelity in a marriage could have even kissed another man, let alone her husband's best friend."

As CJ spoke, Toby couldn't help but flash back to the previous night. Leo snapping at all of them for their jokes about the President and First Lady having sex on the pool table had been pretty much out of character for him. Yes, he did tend to reign them in when their humor got a little too risqué or if he felt they were not being respectful, but never had he snapped so angrily before. Later, as he leaving the White House, he had seen Leo just outside the recreation room. Last night he had attributed the drawn and dejected posture as he shuffled down the hall to Leo being very tired. Now, he was beginning to wonder. Was there something to what CJ was saying?

"There's one way to find out. You've got to ask them about it."

"I know. I'm not looking forward to it."

"Are you going to do it before they leave for New Hampshire or when they get back?"

"I think I'll wait until they get back. Abbey's birthday party here was not exactly fun for her. I'll let her have her party."

"How long did Danny give you?"

"Not long. I'll have to do it as soon as they get back."

"I don't envy you."

"Really?" CJ lifted a brow at him sarcastically. "I thought you'd be fighting me for the chance to show him."

"Leo's going to New Hampshire with them, isn't he?" Toby ignored her sarcasm.

"Yes. He's going up for the party."

"Damn. If what you say is true and the President catches him eyeing Abbey like that there is going to be hell to pay."

"Don't you think I know that? I can't imagine what will happen up there. I saw Marcus Hughes' bloody face after the President was through with him. I've seen the President's fury first hand when it comes to his wife. God help Leo if he's ever tried anything with Abbey."

TBC...