Work Text:
Disclaimer: The characters from the
show aren't mine, they belong to others. No copyright infringement intended.
Any characters you don't recognise are mine. Again, if someone's used the
name(s) or storyline(s) elsewhere, the same applies Feedback would be nice,
positive feedback would be nicer. Enjoy!
Rating: G
Characters: Jed n Leo mainly
Series: No
Spoilers: None intended, but see
below
Summary: The President is not
allowed to smoke inside the White House. Leo has bought Jed's birthday present.
Where is it hidden?
Archive: Just tell me where it's
going
Additional stuff: In Manchester Pt
2 Abbey mentions Jed is scared of small places and fire. Secret Service
procedure is almost certainly not as described in this fic.
Title: Hide and Seek
Ron Butterfield sighed. 'Mr
President, would you excuse me a moment Sir? I have a...'
'Go.' Jed said distractedly.
Two days before his birthday, Leo in a meeting over the OEOB and a perfect
opportunity to search Leo's office was not something he was prepared to miss.
Quickly reminding a young
agent not to let the President out of his sight, Ron hurried away.
Looking both ways before
opening the door, calling for Margaret and getting no reply, Jed walked quickly
into Leo's office. 'Stay here. If Leo comes, stall him.'
The young agent began to
protest. 'Sir, my instructions...'
Ignoring him, Jed closed the
door and began to search. Turning, Jed's eyes lit up as he remembered Leo's
closet. Pausing to light a cigarette, Jed opened the door and walked inside. Intent
on his search of the various boxes, Jed didn't realize the door behind him had
swung closed.
As he rifled the piles of
cardboard boxes and folders, Jed muttered: 'Where is it Leo?' Straightening up,
he felt a twinge in his back, reached round and cursed. As he opened his mouth,
the cigarette fell to his feet, burying itself instantly in the chaos around
him.
After a few seconds of
fruitless searching for the cigarette, Jed sniffed and smelled smoke. Turning
quickly, he reached for the door handle, rattling it hard when it didn't move.
The closet was, for reasons
no-one could work out, soundproofed to the same level as the walls of Leo's
office. The agent standing outside heard only vague sounds of someone moving
around inside the office and stood unmoving, hands folded in front of him,
looking out nervously for the Chief of Staff.
******************
Seeing the Agent outside his
closed office door, Leo frowned and increased his pace down the corridor. 'What's
going on?'
The Agent swallowed hard. 'Um...Mr McGarry Sir...um, you...can't...'
Leo sighed crossly. 'I didn't
hide the damn present in my office!'
Pushing past the Agent, he opened the door
and immediately heard the sounds coming from the closet.
'Jed?!'
'Leo??!! Get me out of here!!'
Leo laughed. 'Find your
birthday pres...'
'The floor's
on fire Leo!!'
Leo grabbed the door handle,
remembered it was waiting for attention from the maintenance staff and looked
around, yelling out the door. 'Get a fire extinguisher!'
The Agent ran down the
corridor, shouting into his wrist mike.
Leo's eyes fixed on the
marble pen holder on his desk, rushed across, grabbed it, ran back and hit the
door handle several times. It snapped off and Leo reached awkwardly into the lock,
turning the mechanism inside the housing, opening the door. He dropped the pen
holder as Jed staggered out, coughing, surrounded by a cloud of acrid smoke.
The Agent ran into the room,
quickly extinguishing the fire as others followed him and began to help the
President onto the couch beside Leo's desk. Leo pulled at Jed's tie and shirt
buttons, anger at Jed's recklessness warring with his worry over Jed's grey
look. He looked over his shoulder. 'Who's on duty tonight? Get a doctor in here
now!'
An Agent relayed Leo's
instruction through his wrist mike and called across: 'Admiral's on his way
Sir.'
************************
Leo sank down onto the couch
beside Jed and looked down at him. 'You couldn't wait two days? What the Hell
were you doing smoking inside?!'
Jed realized the tone was as
much worry as anger and tried for a genuinely contrite look despite his nausea
and dizziness. 'Sorry Leo.'
Leo sighed crossly. 'Abbey
is going to *kill* me.'
Jed frowned, wondering if he
had heard wrong. 'You?'
Leo scowled. 'Stop talking. Yes me! If I
didn't have to hide your present you wouldn't have got locked in my...'
The on-call doctor arrived
and began to check Jed. Leo stood back and saw Ron Butterfield's large frame
hovering in the doorway. He walked across. Quietly, he hissed: 'Come. With. Me.'
Reluctantly, Ron followed the Chief of Staff into
Josh Lyman's office, flinching as the door slammed shut.
*****************
Jed sat up in bed, propped up with a mound of
pillows. 'I heard you yelled at Ron Butterfield. Actually the whole of the West
Wing heard you yell at Ron.'
Unrepentant, Leo shrugged. 'Yeah.'
'It wasn't his fault. It was
mine.'
Leo nodded. 'Yeah.'
'And yet you yelled at him.'
'Well, you were gasping for
air at the time so...'
'Leo!' Jed chastised mildly.
Leo sighed. 'Next year, I'm
not getting you a gift. I'm telling you this now so you won't...'
Jed coughed and Leo walked
to the bed, holding Jed upright. 'I was gone a half hour. Thirty minutes...'
Jed looked up, judging Leo's
level of actual anger. 'You need to clear out that closet.'
Leo chuckled. 'The Agents
pretty much did that last night. Who knew one cigarette could burn through all my stuff so quick?'
'Was there anything
important in there?'
Leo shook his head. 'Nah. Just your birthday present.'
Jed looked up at Leo. 'I knew it!'
'You also knew you're not
supposed to smoke indoors and the lock on my closet was playing up.'
'I forgot.' Jed said
sulkily. 'In the heat of the moment, I forgot.'
Frowning Leo straightened
up. 'In the heat of the moment, Jed, you almost died!'
Jed made a dismissive sound.
'Nah.'
Deciding
not to argue, mainly although not entirely because Abbey was standing in the
bedroom doorway, Leo took a step back. 'You need anything before I go?'
'My birthday present?'
Smiling slightly, Leo
reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a small box, perfectly wrapped,
with a bright yellow ribbon decorating the plain navy blue paper. 'Happy Birthday Mr President.'
He looked back as he walked
out, smiling nervously at Abbey, who he sensed was still angry with him,
hearing Jed's excitement as he opened his present.
Smiling broadly, Leo kept
walking as he heard the President's incredulous shout: 'Leo!!'
End