Donna stood quietly in the doorway and smiled at the scene in front of her. Josh was standing in front of his desk with his arms out at his sides and an exasperated look on his face while Margaret measured him with a tape measure and jotted down notes.

"I really don't have time for this right now," Josh groused. The set of his jaw told Donna there was more to it than just a time issue. He clearly had something on his mind.

"That's tough," the redhead said as she continued to take measurements. "I've been after you for a month to choose a costume for the staff Halloween party and you kept putting it off. Since there's only a week to go I decided to take matters into my own hands."

"I haven't even picked out a costume yet," Josh fidgeted, "so how do you know what to measure for?"

"I figured you weren't going to get around to choosing so I talked to Donna and we picked for you."

"What?!?" Josh's voice came close to a screech and Donna chuckled softly.

"We picked one for you," she said as she entered the office and made her presence known.

"I don't like the sound of that at all." Josh dropped his arms to his sides.

"Then you should have picked one of the first twenty times I asked," Margaret scolded.

"I'm almost afraid to ask but exactly what costume did the two of you pick for me?"

"The Mad Hatter," the women answered in unison.

"The Mad Hatter?? Doo-onna. I don't wanna be the Mad Hatter."

"I saw the Alice in Wonderland costume and fell in love with it so too bad, you're the Mad Hatter. Unless you want to be the March Hare," she added helpfully.

"I'm not going," Josh said defiantly.

"Yes you are. The President has made attendance mandatory." Donna held her ground.

"For everyone?"

"Just for you. He knew you'd find a way to get out of it otherwise," Donna said cheekily.

Josh grumbled as Margaret straightened up and said "All done." She took her tape and her notepad and left the office pulling the door closed behind her.

"Was that Lynne Whitesell I saw talking to Sam in the lobby?" Donna asked as she kissed Josh on the cheek then flopped down in his visitor's chair.

"Yeah," Josh said uncomfortably. " In fact that's what I wanted to see you about."

"Oh?"

He moved to stand directly in front of her and leaned back against his desk trying to strike a casual pose. He took her hands in his and steeled himself for the conversation to come.

"What's wrong?" Donna asked worriedly.

"Lynne came by to tell me that they've added a photographer to the exhibit."

Donna could read Josh like a book so what he was about to say was written all over his face. Very few things darkened his countenance like thoughts of Gaza. Even though she knew the answer to her next question she had to hear him say it.

"Who?" She cast her eyes down and waited for the blow to land.

"Donna..."

"Who, Josh?" She wanted to get it over with.

"Colin Ayres," Josh said quietly.

Donna swallowed hard. Hearing the words out loud was a little bit of a shock.

"Lynne did her best but the board thinks the photos will add to the exhibit." The sadness in his voice almost made Donna crack.

"I'm sure they will," she said, trying her best to put on a brave face for both their sakes.

"This is the first time Ayres has been willing to exhibit them publicly."

"I was under the impression he was never going to do that." Donna bristled.

"Me too. But apparently he changed his mind." Josh forced himself to push his anger towards Colin to the side. That wasn't the pressing issue right now.

"Well....that's...." Donna jumped out the chair and began to pace the office. "This is...ok...this might be a good thing."

"A good thing?" Josh nearly screamed before getting himself more under control. "How do you figure this is a good thing?"

"Maybe it's time for me to see the pictures. I had that flash last week after I got back from Amiir. Maybe it's my mind's way of telling me I'm ready. And these pictures would provide me with the information I need. Like I said, it might be a good thing."

"What are you talking about?" Josh was incredulous. "Seeing those pictures is a bad idea. The king of all bad ideas. So far off the badness scale there aren't even words." He began to pace with her.

"Maybe it's time," Donna said, her own voice rising. She stopped pacing and turned to face him.

"It is most assuredly not time," Josh hissed. "It will never be time. That's why I told Lynne we won't be attending the opening."

"You what?!" Now it was Donna's turn to nearly scream.

"I told her we wouldn't be there," Josh shot back. "Because we won't. The thought of looking at those pictures is bad enough but do you really want to do it with half the national media following you around like vultures waiting for you to burst into tears?"

"Who says I'd burst into tears?" Donna's tone was getting defensive. "Do you think I'm that weak?"

"Donna, you can't be serious about going to this thing."

"I'm dead serious, Josh, and I don't appreciate you thinking you can decide for both of us."

"I thought...."

"No, you didn't. You just made a decision and expected me to go along with you."

Josh was genuinely puzzled. "Donna.."

"No, Josh, don't Donna me. These are pictures of me. I have a right to decide whether I want to see them or not."

There was a light tap on the door followed by Margaret poking her head in. "You're 10 minutes late for staff in the Roosevelt Room and you have the head of the Joint Chiefs in half an hour."

"Thanks, Margaret. Could you tell them I'll be there in a few..."

"No, tell them he's on his way," Donna said to Margaret. "We'll talk about this later," she said to Josh.

"Are you sure?" Josh asked.

"I'm positive. Right now I need some time to think," Donna insisted.

CUT TO:
INTERIOR - PRESIDENTIAL LIMO

LUNCHTIME THURSDAY

"I think that went well, don't you?" Matt asked as he draped his arm around Helen's shoulders.

"I guess so," Helen said with uncertainty. "At least the kids seemed to be listening and they asked some good questions."

"I thought Jeff did a great job explaining things so they could understand them."

"He told me he spent an hour with Peter's teacher this morning talking about strategies to handle Peter's special needs in class. Jeff feels, and she agrees, that there's no reason to think about special classes at this point. With a little modification she thinks he can stay in his regular classroom with all his friends."

"That's a relief," Matt admitted. "I want to do what's best for Peter, of course, and if that means special classes then that's what it means, but...." His voice faltered.

"I know," Helen patted his knee. "It would be hard."

"He's living in a fishbowl as it is. I just want things to be as normal as they can possibly be for him."

Silence filled the limousine.

"That's a lie," Matt said softly.

"What?"

"I hate to say this...I don't know...it's just....as long as he stays in his regular classroom..." Matt grasped for words.

"The whole situation isn't quite so scary?" Helen offered.

"Yeah," Matt sighed.

"He brought the school soccer coach over to talk to me," Helen smiled. "The guy has apparently been doing a lot of studying up on Tourette's and he thinks that as long as they're careful and keep a close eye on things there's no reason Peter shouldn't be able to try out for the soccer team."

"He's like a dog with a bone about those soccer tryouts, isn't he?" Matt laughed.

"That's an understatement."

"So what do you think?"

"I think I want to wrap him in bubble wrap and keep him with me every minute so that nothing ever hurts him."

Matt understood where Helen was coming from but he also knew that being too overprotective was a mistake.

"In lieu of that I'm gonna talk to Jeff again and see what he thinks. I'm not quite ready to sign off on the soccer thing yet. It seems too dangerous."

"Didn't Jeff already say there shouldn't be any problem?"

"Yes, but Jeff's not his mother," Helen said with an air of finality.

CUT TO:
INTERIOR - ROOSEVELT ROOM

Lou, Sam, Lester, Otto and Bram sat at one end of the long conference table while assorted junior staffers clustered around the other talking quietly among themselves. The seat at the head of the table was empty as Josh stalked in with Margaret hot on his heels.

"Nice of you to join us, Josh," Lou snarked as she looked pointedly at her watch.

"Let's get going. I have a lot to do today," Josh growled, barely acknowledging her. He knew he was taking his fight with Donna out on the staff but he couldn't help himself. He hated fighting with her. And on top of that he couldn't fathom what she was thinking wanting to go to the exhibit. "Where are we with the coverage of the new base in Amiir?"

"I think we've wrung about everything we can out of it," Lou said. "We got a few good cycles in a row so all-in-all I guess we should consider it a win. I've lined up a few exclusives for down the road
when events warrant but right now it's a matter of waiting till we break ground on the base, the opening, personnel decisions etc..."

"Sounds good," Josh said. "Let's stay on top of it but it's time to move Amiir to the back burner."

"Is Donna still interested in getting the First Lady some press on this?" Lou asked. "I realize she's got a lot of other things going on right now but there's been some interest from a few outlets about doing a piece on what things were like at the Embassy."

"I have no idea. That's something you'll have to get with Donna on," Josh said snippily.

"Fine, I just thought you might know," Lou huffed.

"Well, I don't," Josh shot back. "I've got better things to do with my day than act as a go between for the East and West Wings."

"What's up his ass today," Lou muttered softly to Lester as Josh moved on.

"Otto, how are we doing on the speech for the VFW Convention next week?"

"Uh...Pretty good," Otto stammered.

"Do you have something preliminary for me to look at?"

"Not exactly. It's pretty much all in my head right now."

"Well unless you want me to suck your brain out and put it up on the teleprompter I suggest you get something down on paper by the end of the day." Josh glared at the young speechwriter.

"I'm on it," Otto assured him.

"Lester, make sure you play up the fact that there are high level meetings going on between the US, Russia, China and Kazakhstan. They may not lead anywhere but at least we want people to think we're doing something and not just sitting on our collective asses."

"Lou, Sam and I have worked up some language. You wanna take a look?" Lester offered, holding out a sheet of paper.

Josh glanced at Sam who gave him an almost imperceptible nod and said "That's ok. I'm sure it's fine."

"What about Peter's diagnosis?" Lester asked.

"That's probably gonna be all anyone wants to talk about until the First Family finally makes a statement. In the meantime, we have Dr. Jeff Perez, a longtime friend of and personal physician to the Santos family and the person who made the initial diagnosis available to talk to the press. We also have the medical team and specialists from Bethesda."

"When are we gonna get the President's reaction?" Lester asked as he took notes.

"Soon. In the meantime, we say he's concerned about his son but also on top of his duties as President. Get with Sam and finesse some language."

"Will do," Lester said, glad to have apparently escaped without incurring Josh's wrath.

"Lou, I want you to get with Annabeth and Sam on this. Coordinate some media appearances. We want to keep one-on-one interviews to a minimum. The First Couple need to present a united front on this. Let's get this out there, give everyone their answers, then move on."

"I'll call Annabeth right away," Lou said.

"We can't be pulling against each other on this. Remember, united front," Josh demanded.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it," Lou assured him.

"Good. Sam, the new clean air and water standards bill is coming up next week. Donaldson is making some noise because he thinks his state is getting shafted. He left me some cryptic message about how he might flip and take seven votes with him. Get with him and explain why that would be a very bad idea."

"I'm on it," Sam said. "I'm also hearing a few rumblings that Phillips might try to leverage the news about Peter to get the President on board with his disabilities access legislation."

"Is that the same stuff he's been peddling since before Bartlet took office?"

"The very same," Sam nodded.

"Disabuse him of the notion that that's going to work," Josh said. "Make it clear to him, hell to everybody, that anyone trying to use Peter's condition to their advantage is not gonna be happy with the results. Anything else?"

Lester cleared his throat. "Much to my dismay I find that I am in charge of making sure that none of the staffers wear the same costume to the Halloween party. We've arranged for the press to be allowed in for picture's during the first hour so...."

Josh glared.

"Look I'm no happier about this than you are. But if everyone can just let me know what they're wearing we can make this as short and painless as possible."

"Over my very strenuous objections, I'm apparently going as the Mad Hatter," Josh snarled. "Donna is going as Alice in Wonderland."

"The President and First Lady are going to be Robin Hood and Maid Marian," Lou added.

"What about the tights thing?" Josh asked.

"What tights thing?" Lou looked at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

"During the campaign. You didn't want him to wear tights on the Tonight Show."

"That was when he was a candidate," Lou said. "It might have made him look soft. Now he's President so it makes him look like a man of the people."

Josh looked dubious.

"Trust me on this," Lou assured him.

"I'm going as Galileo," Sam chimed in proudly.

"Seriously?" Bram asked.

"Yes, seriously." Sam looked slightly offended.

"Lester, Otto and I are going as the Three Musketeers," Bram beamed. "The costumes are fabulous. They have these great swords...."

"Riveting," Josh snapped.

"What's are you going as, Lou?" Bram went on, undaunted.

"Mae West," Lou answered, barely looking up.

"Excuse me?" Bram tried to hold back a laugh.

"Mae West," Lou repeated, speaking slowly. "She's an American icon."

"I know she is but isn't she also....you know..."

"What?" Lou glared at Bram.

"You know," Bram inclined his head to the side.

"No, I don't know," Lou scowled.

"Voluptuous," Otto offered. "Curvy."

"Are you saying I don't have the body to pull off Mae West?"

"I...I..." Otto began to look panicked.

"Don't you have something else to worry about, Otto," Josh snarled. "Like perhaps the VFW speech?"

"Ummm...yeah...I'm gonna get right on that," Otto stammered.

"Good. If there's nothing else, let's get to work. This party isn't an excuse for slacking off. Lou and Sam, I need to see you guys for a minute. Walk back to my office with me."

Lou, Sam, Josh and Margaret headed back down the hall toward the Josh's office.

"We need to walk a fine line with this Peter story," Josh said as he strode down the hall at top speed while the others struggled to keep up. "We can't look like we're exploiting it but at the same time we can't appear to be downplaying or ignoring it."

"I'd think we should set up a couple of interviews with some of the big name anchors in a more casual setting. I'm hoping maybe the Residence," Lou suggested.

"That's something you'll have to talk to the President and First Lady about," Josh replied.

"We need to go to them with a full media plan in place." Sam recommended. "Let them see that there's a method to the madness. They're gonna resist at first, but if we can stand together, and explain things to them, it'll definitely help."

"You've got experience with this kind of thing. I mean, clearly it's a different case with it being Peter as opposed to the President, but I think he might respect that you've been down a similar road before," Lou said to Sam.

"Lou's right," Josh said distractedly as they reached the door to his office. "Work with her on the plan and be there when she presents it to the President and Mrs. Santos."

"Will do," Sam said.

"I'll have something for you to look at by the end of the day," Lou said as she peeled off and headed for her own office.

"Mae West?" Sam asked as they watched her walk away. "Interesting choice."

"What's Lauren going as?" Josh asked as Lou turned the corner.

"Red Riding Hood," Sam replied.

"Really? That doesn't seem to go with Galileo." Josh entered his office and Sam remained in the doorway.

"I know. But I refused to be the Big Bad Wolf. Bad imagery, you know?"

"Uh-huh," Josh said as he shuffled through some papers on his desk.

"And she didn't want to be Marie Curie," Sam said with disbelief.

Josh turned and looked quizzically at his friend.

"You know, I thought we could have a whole famous scientists theme going," Sam explained.

"Amazing she didn't go along with that."

"I know," Sam said disbelievingly. "There's no explaining women sometimes."