Ghosts in the Smoke Part 6

Disclaimer: I don't own these lovely characters, Aaron Sorkin and his friends do.

Sam and Josh are caught in a hotel fire.

Spoilers: Everything up through The Leadership Breakfast (set two days later)

Archive: Anywhere you want, just please e-mail me Partnrpal@aol.com

Ghosts in the Smoke

By Mer

Part 6

Press Room

"As of right now, I really don't have any new information on Josh or Sam. I can tell you that the fire appears to have been started by some faulty wiring on the seventh floor. And as of this time there is no word on whether or not anyone else is trapped. Some people who made it down have been treated for smoke inhalation, but other than that there doesn't appear to be any other serious injuries." C.J. stated.

"C.J. is it true that the reason they agreed to do the Charity Auction was because they were being punished by Leo?" A reporter named Mark asked.

"Leo was a little angry at them earlier, but Senator Herman has stated that they were there because they wanted to help out the charity this event was being held for." C.J. replied.

"C.J. how do you know for sure that they are trapped in there?" A reporter named Steve asked.

"Once we saw the report on the news we tried to get in contact with them via cell phone. Sam stated that they were trapped in a stairwell." C.J. replied.

"Are the fire fighters aware of this?" Steve asked.

"Yes, Steve I believe that they are doing everything in their power to get them free." C.J. replied a bit annoyed.

"C.J. is it true that Josh and Sam started a fire in the Mural Room the other night?" Danny asked.

"Yes Danny. The heat was out so they decided to build a cozy fire in the fireplace. Unfortunately, they didn't notice the sign that said that it had been welded shut for over a hundred years." C.J. replied which caused all of them to laugh.

"Was there any damage?" Danny asked.

"Not really. They put out the fire before it even spread from the fireplace." C.J. replied.

"Could they have started the fire tonight?" A reporter named Brenda asked.

"No. According to Senator Herman the fire started after he got into the elevator. The fire started on the seventh floor and Josh and Sam were in his suite on the sixth." C.J. replied.

"C.J. is it true that one of them lost a sibling in a fire when they were younger?" A reporter named Mike asked.

"Mike, I am not really sure. But if you'll excuse me now I'm going to turn you over to Henry Hilts the D.C. Fire Department's Spokesperson." C.J. replied leaving the room as Henry began answering questions.

Toby's Office

Toby was sitting at his desk preparing for his trip to Kansas City. He hoped that the trip would be postponed because of what was happening. So he shoved the trip stuff away and he picked up the State of the Union Address. He re-read a couple of the parts that Sam had written.

"You had better be okay Sam." Toby muttered aloud.

"Hey Toby you busy?" C.J. asked as she knocked on his door.

"No, come on in." Toby said gesturing to a chair.

"Well, they knew about the Mural Room fire." C.J. commented as she slumped down on the couch.

"I told you they would, and besides it wasn't really an out of control fire." Toby stated.

"Yeah, Toby a reporter asked me an odd question...he asked if one of them had lost a sibling in a fire." C.J. stated in a somewhat troubled voice.

"I wouldn't know about that. I suppose Sam could have. He never talks about any siblings." Toby offered.

"Hmm..." C.J. replied.

"Don't worry about it, its none of their business anyway." Toby replied crossly.

"Okay, okay." C.J. replied.

"Where did Donna go off to anyway?" Toby asked.

"I think she went to talk with Margaret or something, why?" C.J. asked.

"I was just wondering if she was holding up better this time?" Toby asked.

"Yeah, she's fine. But how are you." C.J. asked gently.

"Sam was supposed to be here tonight to help me work on this speech. I have never wanted his help more in my life." Toby admitted.

"Wow that's a big admission for you." C.J. replied.

"Shut up. I'm not in the mood to be mocked." Toby replied.

"You're never in the mood to be mocked, so what gives?" C.J. asked.

"Sam has just been on more of a roll on this than I have." Toby replied.

"Still fretting over Ann Stark huh?" C.J. asked.

"You know I don't have to put up with your abuse." Toby replied.

"Okay, I'm going to see if Leo knows anymore." C.J. replied as she left his office.

The Oval Office

"Why in the world did he ask that question?" Jed asked, still upset over the press conference.

"I don't know, sir." Leo replied.

"You know something that I don't, so tell me." Jed ordered.

"Am I interrupting something?" C.J. asked.

"No, C.J. come on in, I think that Leo was about to tell us something." Jed replied.

"It's obvious that you weren't paying attention to my call to Sam otherwise you'd already know the answer to your question." Leo replied.

"So sue me I'm trying to run a country here." Jed said as he threw his hands up in the air.

"May I ask what you are referring to?" C.J. asked.

"The question that Mike asked you...he wants me to give you an answer." Leo replied.

"So why don't you?" Jed asked.

"Okay fine. Josh lost his sister in a fire when he was like six." Leo finally replied.

"Joanie died in a fire? He just mentioned once that he used to have a sister. Why am I just hearing about this now?" C.J. asked.

"He doesn't like to talk about it. But under no circumstances are you to answer Mike's question." Leo ordered.

"Yes, sir." C.J. replied.

"That had to have been hard on his family." Jed replied softly.

"Yeah it was. Speaking of which, I have to go call Josh's mother and tell her about the latest fire." Leo said as he excused himself from the room.

D.C. Hilton

Sam was beginning to get worried. More debris had started to fall from the ceiling at a regular pace. He knew it probably wouldn't be long until the rest of the sixth floor fell on top of them. They had been lucky so far, but Sam knew that it couldn't last.

It had also been a struggle to keep Josh awake. Sam knew that he was in shock due to the blood loss or something. And when he spoke now, he didn't really make much sense. As much as he hated to admit it, Sam liked it better when Josh thought he was talking to Joanie.

Sam noticed that the ruble pile was being tinkered with again. He could faintly hear fire fighters or something. He prayed that they would get there in time. Even with the air hole the smoke was starting to get bad again.

"My tux is getting wrinkled. Donna is going to kill me." Josh commented breaking Sam's train of thought.

"Donna will understand." Sam assured him.

"She'll get mad, always does. Some big date." Josh stated.

"Yeah Donna's on a date right now, but I'm sure she knows that this isn't your fault." Sam assured him.

"Dr. Freeride should be here." Josh stated.

"Dr. Freeride?" Sam asked.

That name sounded so familiar to him, yet he didn't know why. Then he remembered something Josh said about Donna when she first started working for him. Dr. Freeride had been her loser boyfriend. Why would Josh want him here, Sam wondered?

"Broke window, not a glass." Josh stated.

"I figured as much." Sam murmured.

"Thought Laurie was cute, Lisa a bitch." Josh stated.

Sam knew that to keep Josh awake he had to keep him talking, but these random thoughts were starting to get on his nerves. Josh was bringing up every subject under the sun. He really wanted to know why Josh thought Lisa was a bitch, you know she was his ex-fiancée and all but he decided to let the subject drop.

"Yeah well you had Mandy." Sam replied.

"She lost our baby." Josh replied.

"What baby?" Sam asked, having never heard this story.

"C.J. should have a baby with Toby." Josh replied.

Sam made a mental note to ask Josh about him and Mandy if they ever got out of this. And he thought the C.J. and Toby comment was just downright sick.

"You should have a baby with Donna." Josh commented.

"No buddy, you should." Sam whispered. "You should."

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