The receptionist at Lauren's new law firm answered on the second ring.

"Lauren Harman, please."

Sam waited as he was transferred to Lauren's new secretary who told him she was out of the office.

"Well could you…this is her fiancé, I…I didn't know if she might be available for lunch, or..." he looked down at his own calendar. "No, wait, *I'm* not even available for lunch, I…listen, do you mind to just have her call me when she has a minute? As soon as she has a minute. Thank you."

He placed the receiver in the cradle and was still staring at it when his door swung open to reveal Ginger. "Your one o'clock's here."

He stood and began shuffling through the papers on his desk. "That's the nuisance lawsuit in Oregon; have you seen the file I had this morning, with the…" He trailed off as she held the file directly in his line of vision. "Thanks. Listen, if Lauren calls, tell her I'll call her back *just as soon* as I'm done with this. Where am I going?" He called on his way out the door.

"Roosevelt Room," she shouted after him.

INT. ROOSEVELT ROOM

He was pacing around the table, willing himself to focus on the matter at hand instead of his personal problems when Ginger appeared on the other side of the glass door and opened it, clearing the passage for a very familiar face.

"Hey," he said softly. "What are you doing here?"

"I…" Lauren looked around the room and laughed nervously. "I wish I knew."

"I tried to call you," he said, closing the distance between them.

"I had my cell turned off."

"How's your first day?"

"I've had less stressful days."

"I know. Listen…I'm glad you're here because I wanted to…I mean, I've got a meeting right now, but…you know what, it can wait. We need to talk for a few minutes. Let me have Ginger tell them to
wait." He clapped her on the shoulder and stepped toward the door.

"Your one o'clock?"

He turned around. "Yes."

"Oregon?" she said without turning around.

He approached her cautiously. "How do you know that?"

"The firm's already given me a case," she said hollowly. "Can you believe that? I haven't even heard whether I've passed the bar in DC yet. But Mr. Whittington says he has every confidence in me."

Sam came around so he could see her face again. "They should. What case?"

"I assumed I'd be meeting with White House counsel, and then we'd be able to talk about this tonight…it wasn't until I got here that I was told that it was going to be you."

Sam felt his stomach hit the floor. "Hanks Whittington. Hanks Whittington is representing the plaintiffs in the nuisance suit."

Lauren nodded, unable or unwilling to look at him. "I'll be heading up the legal team."

"You can't."

She met his eyes. "I don't have a choice."

"No, really, you can't. I've been put on this. This is my assignment."

"Something I didn't know until a few minutes ago, when I was told Mr. Seaborn would see me now."

"But you knew when they asked you to sue the President that I was one of his senior advisers, right? Or have you just not been paying attention."

Lauren let a long breath out through her nose. "You're his adviser, not his lawyer. I didn't think--"

"You're engaged to the President's Deputy Chief of Staff, Lauren, you didn't think this might be a *slight* conflict of interest?"

Lauren swallowed hard. "I voiced my concerns about that when they gave me the assignment this morning. The partners don't share them."

Sam snorted. "I bet they don't. A little unfair advantage isn't cause for concern."

"How many times do I have to tell you--"

"Do you really think this, of all times, is the best time for you to be battling me in the professional arena?"

"I'd prefer not to battle you in *any* arena," Lauren snapped, then frowned. "What do you mean, this of all times?"

"What with the test, and all. I mean…well…oh, what the hell. I found the test. This isn't exactly turning out to be the Kodak moment it's supposed to be, is it?""

"What test?" Lauren threw her hands up. "I should hear about the bar exam by the end of the month. I've passed it before, you know, I'm relatively confident--"

"This test!" Sam hissed as he pulled the box out of his coat pocket. "This test that you so discreetly left in my briefcase for me to find. I ended up accidentally passing it off to a coworker, by the way! You didn't want to maybe just say, `Sam, we need to talk'?"

Lauren stared at the box on the table. "Someone left a pregnancy test in your briefcase?" She cocked her head to the side, face tightening. "And you think it was me."

Sam's face went slack. "I thought…of course I thought…it's just that it wouldn't be anyone else."

"Well…you were very supportive just then, as you believed I was facing a life-altering decision."

"I handled that…poorly. Yes. I did. God," he ran a hand through his hair. "But you blindsided me with the lawsuit, you…we're trying to get settled, we're trying to plan this wedding. I'm trying to do 30 things at once in this job, and you leave--that is, I thought you left this thing in my briefcase as a--"

"We're trying to get settled because you moved us, we're trying to plan this wedding because you proposed, I just found out about the lawsuit myself, and *this*," she pushed the test back across the table, "must be from one of your little GW groupies, because I'm fairly certain I understand the complicated concept of taking a pill every day."

Sam hung his head. "You didn't have anything to do with this?"

"No," she dropped into a chair. "You have a hissy fit if I get within 4 feet of your briefcase anyway. I mean, does that even sound like me?"

Realization swept over Sam's face. "No."

Lauren shrugged, hurt evident on her face.

"Lauren," Sam cooed as he knelt in front of her. "I was…I thought you were…I mean, with the test, you know, I thought…and it just, it overwhelmed me for a second. A few seconds. And by the time you add the lawsuit into the mix, and I mean, seriously, we're gonna have to do something about that, but…this was just very unfortunate timing."

"Yes, it was," she sighed.

"Yes, it was. I'm so sorry."

Lauren opened her briefcase and pulled out a thick file. "Everything pertinent to the suit is in here." She stood and stepped toward the door.

"Lauren…"

"You know what the worst part of it is? Not that you seem to take it as a foregone conclusion that *I*, the one who moved for *you*, should be the one to back away from the suit, but the fact that the idea of your future wife carrying your future child made you so angry."

"It came out wrong," he whispered. "Lauren, it came out completely wrong."
 
"Lots of things come out wrong with you these days," Lauren said softly. "I have to get back to work."

Sam stood in the doorway and watched her go, wishing for all the world he could take back the last 10 minutes of his life.

INT. COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR'S OFFICE, 2:06 P.M.

Lou was bent over her keyboard when Sam appeared in her doorway. "That's bad for your back, you know."

"I have poor posture," she said.

"It's gonna get worse if you keep hunching over that thing."

"Was there something I could--"

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

Lou looked up at the uncharacteristically quiet tone in his voice. "Yeah."

He stepped in the office and closed the door behind him. "I need to talk to you a little more about the thing before."

"I really don't know anymore," Lou shrugged.

"You didn't know as much as you thought you did, apparently," Sam said calmly. "The box didn't come from Lauren."

Lou's face melted into an expression of confusion. "It didn't?"

Sam shook his head. "And it's important to me that you understand that when I gave it to you, it was in no way a sexual advance or meant to be interpreted as any kind of inappropriate…" he sighed. "I don't know where it came from."

"The plot thickens."

"So I'm asking you, because I need to straighten this out and try to dig myself out of this hole I'm in, when exactly did I give it to you?"

"It was in the file you gave me earlier…the stuff from Josh's office. We…Otto…he found it in there. I didn't tell him it came from you."

"Josh's office…" Sam muttered. "Okay."

"Why aren't you up on the Hill?"

"I'm working on some things.

"Hey, did I cause a--"

Sam shook his head and gave her a rueful little smile. "No, I did. See ya."

"Bye," Lou hunched over her computer again, only to raise her head a few minutes later. "Wait a minute, if it didn't come from…oh, I just wanna die."

INT. DCoS OFFICE, 3:48 P.M.

"She's still not picking up her cell," Sam said, replacing the handset in the cradle as Ginger brought an armful of papers in from the bullpen.

"So the talking thing…"

"Did not work out like I'd hoped," he sighed.

"Aren't you supposed to be up on the Hill?"

"I gotta talk to Josh about the nuisance suit."

"You know, I could…I don't know, *call you* when he got back."

"Hey." Donna stuck her head in Sam's open door.

"Look who wandered back to her old stomping grounds," Sam said.

"I couldn't keep myself away," Donna said. "Hey, when you get a second, could you help me?" she asked Ginger. "I'm trying to put myhands on a file that seems to be eluding me today."

"Sure," Ginger said. "I'll call you."

"Go ahead," Sam said.

"You sure?" Ginger studied him carefully. "You look like someone stole your lunch money."

"I'm a big boy, Ginger. Go help her."

"Thanks," Donna smiled as they retreated back to the bullpen.

INT. OPS BULLPEN, CONTINUOUS

"What were you looking for?"

"The files from the Bartlet administration, the previous DCoS files. Josh's old files. Are they still up here?"

"Most of it's been moved into storage," Ginger said.

"What I'm looking for was in your bottom left-hand desk drawer."

"Unless it was a half-used bottle of lotion, then you're out of luck."

"Damn."

"Sorry."

"You know what this means, don't you? More fun with boxes for me," Donna grumbled.

"What is it, exactly?"

"Nothing official, just a big accordion file, I wanted to make a copy of it. I'll be at OEOB getting dirty if anybody needs me."

You do know you can send someone to find it for you, don't you?"

"No, I know exactly what I'm looking for. Besides, some of those files are sensitive."

"Good luck." Ginger wandered back into Sam's office.

INT. DCoS OFFICE, CONTINUOUS

"You need anything?" she asked.

"No," Sam stood and slid into his coat. "I think I'm gonna go back up to the Hill."

INT. OPS BULLPEN, CONTINUOUS

"Margaret said Josh is due back any minute, you want me to put you on the phone with him?"

"No," Sam said. "Just because he's back doesn't mean he'll be free. Find out when I can get in with him next. I need 10 minutes; tell him it's on the thing in Oregon."

INT. NORTHWEST LOBBY, CONTINUOUS

"I'll call you as soon as I--"

"Hey!"

Ginger startled, along with everyone else in the lobby, at Josh's shout. Donna, who'd been halfway across the room, on her way out to OEOB, froze in her tracks.

"What part of `I want to waive my right to a detail' didn't you understand?" Josh came toe-to-toe with Ron Butterfield, sending most of the crowd in the lobby scattering. Donna drew closer slowly, and Sam followed.

"I understood the request," Ron replied calmly.

"It wasn't a request," Josh growled.

"Josh, I understand this is an adjustment. I've already spoken to the detail. They're gonna pull back, increase their distance from you when possible--"

"I. Am. Waiving. My. Right. To. The. Detail." Josh leaned forward. "I can't do the job like this, dammit. I tried to run a simple errand, and he was shutting down stores for me! For God's sake, do I look like Paris Hilton to you?!"

"If the store is of such a small size that the distance protocols can't be maintained, the room has to be cleared," Ron said calmly.

"I went up to the Hill, and he got between me and senators I've known for 10, 15 years in some cases. Do you have any idea how that undermines me when I'm trying to further the President's agenda?"

"Did any of them complain?" Ron asked.

"I'm complaining!!!"

"Josh," Donna said softly.

Josh snapped his head to look at Donna, then let his eyes travel to Sam behind her.

"You need the detail," Donna said.

"No, I don't. This isn't negotiable. This is about me. My life. My freedom. My…" he turned to look at Ron again. "I didn't ask for this, any of it. And I don't want it. Reassign the damn detail."

He turned and skulked toward his office. Sam looked between Donna and Ron for a moment before following.

Donna took a step closer to him. "You can't let him go without the detail, Ron. Not while we've got troops in Kazakhstan. You *know* that. It's not safe for him."

"He's not gonna listen to reason," Ron said to her.

"He's gotta listen to something," Donna said.

"Yeah," Ron said thoughtfully. "He does."

CUT TO: INT. CoS OFFICE, CONTINUOUS

"Margaret!"

She appeared in the doorway.

"I need you to cancel my reservations at Kinkead's."

"You want me to *cancel*?"

"Yeah, I changed my mind about that."

"Okay. Sam wanted 10 minutes when--"

Sam appeared in the doorway at that second.

"Hey, why the hell aren't you on the Hill?" Josh leaned forward in his chair.

Margaret took that as her cue to exit.

"I needed to talk to you about Oregon," Sam said, closing the door behind him. "I think the better question is, why were YOU on the Hill?"

"I met with Brennan."

"On what?"

"I'm trying to figure out what the hell is happening with Baker's confirmation, Sam, what do you think?"

"I *know* what's happening with Baker, for God's sake, Josh!"

"You didn't seem to in staff this morning!"

"No, I didn't want to come out and say in front of all those people we barely know that Toby's pardon has pissed everybody off so badly, that we might lose our nominee for VP!"

Josh exhaled. "You knew. You knew that was what had the yellow dogs in knots."

"Of course, I did."

"And you didn't say anything to me."

"I hadn't yet, no."

"You wanna explain to me why not?"

Sam dropped into one of the chairs. "When we were having problems on the Hill, when did you bring it to Leo?"

Josh rocked back in his own chair. "When it looked like I was in danger of not being able to turn it around, I guess."

"That's why not."

"I can help you with this, Sam, I know who to call to get things done under the radar. I mean, the Republicans have issues, that's one thing. But we can handle the Dems--"

"Josh…you don't work the Senate anymore. When I need help from you, I swear to God, I will not hesitate to come to you and ask for it. But for the record, I had a meeting set up with Brennan for tomorrow morning. I was paying attention all those years."

Josh laughed tiredly. "Very good, grasshopper." They fell silent for a moment, watching Lester's evening briefing on the television. "Have you seen him since the pardon?"

Sam shook his head. "I knocked on his door once. He didn't answer, but I knew he was there." He sighed. "I just don't understand. I don't understand why he did that."

"Neither do I. Neither does he, I think." He studied Sam thoughtfully. "Are we gonna get Baker confirmed?"

"When you say `we,' do you mean--"

"You're running the show on the Hill. From now on. Can we get it done?"

"I don't know. We gotta find some way to move `em off of Toby."

Josh fell silent again as he watched Lester dodge press questions on his relationship with Donna. "It's always about changing the story, isn't it?"

"Frame the debate. You do that successfully, and you've won."

"How did your meeting on Oregon go?"

Sam sighed. "Hanks Whittington Cooper is the firm representing the plaintiff."

Josh furrowed his brow. "Isn't Hanks Whittington Lauren's new firm?"

Sam nodded. "They've got her heading up the legal team."

"They can't do that!"

"Try explaining that to them. I was…less than adept today at explaining it to her. If something doesn't change, I'm gonna have to recuse myself."

"Well, of course you're not gonna be lead counsel, but I still want you on it, if for no other reason that than you have at least some familiarity with how she works. I'll get somebody from counsel's office with you on it, but if Hanks Whittington can play this way, so can we."

"And yet I feel like Lauren and me are the ones being played."

"It went that bad, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, you know what you should do? Take my reservations."

Sam squinted at Josh. "Why don't you want them?"

"I do," he said. "Donna doesn't. Margaret!"

"Yeah?"

"Would you call Kinkead's and have them change the reservations to Sam's name?"

"The reservations you just had me cancel?"

Josh's face was the picture of innocence. "You don't think they'd still have them if you called back?"

"I can try."

"Would you?"

"So we've got a place to eat, if I can get her speaking to me long enough to get there."

"You've got an ace in the hole, remember?"

"What's that?"

"Tiffany and Co."

`Somehow I think that's not gonna matter to her tonight. God, it's all just so nuts. I mean come to think of it, I never did figure out where…"

Josh looked up from the memo he'd been reading. "Where what?"

"Donna was looking for a file," he whispered.

"When?"

"Before…Donna couldn't find a file, she was checking the bullpen. She said it had been eluding her all day."

"Yeah, so?"

"Josh, Lester's briefing just wrapped up," Margaret leaned back in the door. "They're on their way over."

"Thanks." Josh jerked his head toward the Oval. "We've got staff. You'll tell me after."

He was through the door to the Oval before Sam had time to protest.

FADE TO BLACK