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To The Victor
Violet & Cinnamon
"...And with the polls closed on the East Coast, CNN is now projecting a solid victory for Governor Bartlet."
There was a full second of absolute silence.
Then the cheering and the applause exploded, both inside the Governor's mansion and outside on the streets. Somebody popped a cork. Music started playing, and there was dancing, and laughter, and chaos.
"We did it!" Sam shouted gleefully. He and Josh clapped each other into a forceful, triumphant hug.
"We sure as hell did!" Josh waved a glass of champagne foam carelessly. "Hey, Leo! Leo! Are you hearing this?"
Leo hugged his wife, and answered over her shoulder. "Yeah!"
"We are the champions...." Josh began; then a crumpled wad of paper hit him in the back of the head. "Hey, what the hell was that?"
"The concession speech!" C.J. called, laughing. She nudged Toby. "Can you believe this?"
"Victory isn't a given, C.J. There are still --"
"Several time zones that haven't closed their polls." She shook her head. "How did I know you were going to say that?"
"C.J.!" Sam breathlessly interrupted and handed her a glass of champagne.
"Why, thank you, Samuel."
"Have I mentioned that you look devastatingly beautiful tonight?" He sipped his drink.
"No, I don't believe you have."
"Well, as always, you do. Dance with me!"
C.J. swallowed half her champagne and handed the glass to Toby, then took Sam's hand and followed him onto the makeshift dance floor. "I can barely hear the music over everything," she giggled.
"So what?" Sam grinned. "You know something?"
"What?"
"We just elected the--"
"Guys!" Josh stepped between them, giddily throwing an arm around each of them. "Victory is ours!"
"Yes!" they simultaneously cheered.
"We rule!" Josh added.
"Almost literally," Toby quipped, from the sidelines.
Josh ignored him. "We floated like a butterfly, we stung like a bee, and when the chips were down in the bottom of the ninth we slam-freaking-dunked it!"
C.J. and Sam looked at each other. "Is that even English he's speaking?" she wondered.
"Who cares?" Sam spun C.J. around and out of his arms.
She nearly slipped on some spilled champagne, but Leo intercepted her. "Careful there, Ginger Rogers."
"Leo!" C.J. wrapped her arms around his neck. "So where's the man of the hour?"
"He's right over--where'd he go?" Leo scanned the room.
"You looking for Bartlet?" Turning, they saw Hoynes standing next to them.
"I guess congratulations are in order for you, too," C.J. smiled.
Hoynes shrugged. "The results aren't official yet."
"You've been talking to Toby, haven't you?"
"Seriously, though," Josh looked around. "Where'd he go?"
Sam raised his eyebrows. "Where did Mrs. Bartlet go?"
"You don't think--" C.J. began.
Leo shook his head, pretending to be stern. "I'll go find him in a while."
Josh chuckled. "Knock first."
* * *
"So -- it's essentially over."
"Not completely. There's still a long way to go. But…" Jed nodded slowly and sat down on the couch. "We took New York, and Florida."
"We knew we'd win New York," Abbey said. "Florida was a battleground."
"Florida's schizophrenic, is what Florida is."
"It doesn't matter. We got 'em."
"Not with 50 percent," Jed mused.
"With a 25 point lead."
"Yeah."
"And Texas is John's home state, and the polls have you up in Michigan and California. You can stop obsessing. You're winning."
His smile widened. "Yes, I am."
"So, how does it feel?" She sat down beside to him, eyes sparkling.
He put an arm around her. "Winning feels good."
"Only good, President Bartlet?"
Jed stared at his wife for a long moment. "That's a first."
"Well, you're going to be hearing it for a while now, babe." Abbey snuggled against him. "How does it feel?"
He leaned over and kissed her deeply. She pressed closer to him and he held her tight. "It feels almost as good as that," he said, eventually.
"We should call the girls," she suggested.
"Yeah." He let her go reluctantly, and reached for the phone.
* * *
Josh placed a roast beef sandwich and a handful of pretzels onto a small paper plate and spotted Hoynes sitting quietly at the back of the room. Slowly, he made his way through the crowd towards him.
"Hey."
John looked up briefly, then focused again on the crowd. "Hey, Josh."
"Where's Ruth?" Josh asked, taking a seat next to Hoynes.
"She's picking up the kids, going to bring them here for a few hours."
"So," Josh popped a pretzel into his mouth. "I guess this is going to happen, huh?"
Hoynes nodded almost imperceptibly. "Yeah, it looks that way."
Josh grinned. "You're going to be the Vice President."
"Yeah."
"Sir?"
John looked at Josh. "Yeah?"
"You're going to be the Vice President."
Hoynes reflected for a moment before a smile worked its way across his face. "Yeah."
* * *
Jenny watched Leo's face as they danced. "It's amazing."
He beamed at her. "Yeah."
"I mean, this year has just been madness."
"Like any campaign."
"Yes." She rested her head on his shoulder. "But it's been one thing after another. It's easy to get caught up in the process -- and now it's over."
"The campaign's over," Leo said, gently. "Now we're actually going to work."
Jenny looked up at him thoughtfully. "You're behind the whole thing, Leo. You're going to be running the country."
"And behind every good man there's a good woman," he told her playfully, planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Or vice versa." She smiled, uncertainly. "I'm gonna go freshen up, okay?"
He watched her go, shaking his head. "Madness."
"What?" asked Toby, sitting by the wall behind him.
"Nothing." Leo turned to face him. "You don't seem particularly cheerful."
"Results are still coming in." Toby gestured at the TV, which was still on, though no one was paying it much attention. "We're up by a lot in Illinois and Ohio. The independent vote's swinging things in our favor."
"So celebrate, Toby." He pulled up a folding chair and sat down. "You did good work this year."
"I know."
"We're going to win, and we're going to do some great work for this country. What's holding you up?"
Toby shrugged slightly. "I'm under the impression that the Governor hasn't yet made up his mind about his staff appointments."
"That's true."
"Ah."
"But I have." Leo met his gaze steadily as he stood. "You did good work this year."
"I know." As Leo walked away, Toby studied his hands for a long moment. Finally, he looked up with a glimmer of something new in his eyes. He reached into his jacket, produced a cigar, and yelled into the crowd, "Anybody got a light?"
* * *
"Josh, Josh!" Donna scurried up to him and bounced with excitement.
"Donna, Donna!" Josh swallowed the last of his sandwich.
"We won Iowa."
"Are you serious?"
Donna nodded and Josh hugged her jubilantly.
"Well, this calls for a celebration! I'm going to get so drunk --"
"You're having three whole beers?" she deadpanned. "Sam, did you hear about Iowa?"
He grinned. "The night keeps getting better and better."
C.J. sidled up to him. "And in light of that, I have something I want to show you."
"Are you going to get naked in front of the entire campaign staff again?" Josh asked.
"I never did that!"
"Must've been a dream I had." He smiled mischieviously. "Will you do it anyway?"
"You have to buy her dinner first," Toby said sarcastically, joining them. CJ smacked him lightly on the arm.
Sam studied Toby's expression, wide-eyed. "Is something wrong with your face?"
"Hmm?"
"You're smiling. I don't want you to strain anything--"
"Go to Hell," Toby said, warmly.
C.J. crossed to the front of the room, signaling her assistant, who went to the stereo. "Everyone, can I interrupt for a minute?" She waited until the room quieted, then nodded. As the music started, she smiled brilliantly and tossed her head.
"Did I ever tell you about that man who changed my life...?"
* * *
"Yeah, honey. Thanks. Mom says goodnight too -- yes. Stay up and watch the news. I'll talk to you in the morning." Jed hung up.
"They should all be here for this," Abbey said.
"I think so too," he agreed. "Lizzie says Annie's got the flu, or she'd have come down."
"Zoey's asleep upstairs. Staying up all night this whole week finally caught up with her."
"So she's missing the fun." He looked glum for a moment, then cheered up. "Well, there's always tomorrow."
She smiled. "There certainly is. And tonight--" She moved closer to him, then jumped back at the sound of a knock.
Leo opened the door and peeked inside. "Am I interrupting a private party?"
"If I wasn't in such a good mood, I'd set you on fire," Jed told him. "What's up?"
"Iowa and Illinois are bagged. About two hundred reporters are ready to beat the gates down."
He laughed softly. "Let 'em have the gates."
"Okay." Leo tilted his head and looked at Abbey. "I've been taking up all your husband's time for more than a year, Abbey. Mind if I borrow him for another couple hours?"
She threw up her hands. "Go."
Jed and Leo walked down the hall together. "So how's it looking?"
"You're not a popular man in Kansas," Leo informed him. "Texas was close, but we pulled it out."
"That's because of Hoynes. Remind me to thank him sometime."
"Yeah." Leo paused. "We've gotten an informal call from the White House. You should expect the formal concession call within an hour."
Jed froze where he stood. "My God."
"Yeah."
"We really did it. And now--"
"Now the hard part begins." Leo turned back to face his friend. "It's a big country out there."
"Looks a lot bigger when you're responsible for it. But if anything goes wrong, I can blame Congress, right?"
"We're going to get very good at blaming Congress, I think."
They kept walking. "This is a hell of a thing, Leo."
"I would imagine it seems pretty terrifying right about now."
He shook his head gravely. "You have no idea."
"I believe, with all my heart, that you're going to do this very well. And you know something?" Leo touched his shoulder. "America agrees with me on that, Mr. President."
"Christ." Jed stopped again. "I'm going to have to get used to that."
"Well, it's no rush. You have four -- no, eight years."
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