FF: Band of Brothers… and a Sister
Jun. 18th, 2006 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quaggyTitle: Band of Brothers… and a Sister
Category: "Post-Ep" for The Undecideds
Disclaimer: I do not own The West Wing or any West Wing characters.
Rating: G
Notes: This is scene takes place in between Josh's two visits to Toby. Thought this up back when the episode first aired, but I wasn't writing fanfic back then, so I just let it go... only to have it smack me on the side of the head on my way to work a couple of days ago. Who knew that fics could act like boomerangs?
Category: "Post-Ep" for The Undecideds
Disclaimer: I do not own The West Wing or any West Wing characters.
Rating: G
Notes: This is scene takes place in between Josh's two visits to Toby. Thought this up back when the episode first aired, but I wasn't writing fanfic back then, so I just let it go... only to have it smack me on the side of the head on my way to work a couple of days ago. Who knew that fics could act like boomerangs?
“Yeah.”
“So you think you still want my job?”
“CJ, I have never wanted your job.”
“You were always smarter than the rest of us.”
“Sure, because here I am despite my better judgment.”
“I wanted to call you sooner.”
“It’s ok. I understood.”
“Still. I couldn’t help you. You, at least, deserved to hear it from me”
“………..”
“Josh?”
“Nothing.”
“Josh…”
“CJ, I get this job. Sometimes, you have to do things or say things you don’t want to. You call in favors. You put friends in awkward positions. But you do it to protect your guy.”
“And, right now, you’re doing it without the benefit of the nifty office. But you haven’t experienced the worst part yet. The worse part about this job is that there are things that I can’t tell you… especially now.”
“South American delegation?”
“No.”
“What can you tell me?”
“Well… never use Will Bailey as your wedding consultant.”
“Heh. I can assure that will never happen. I highly doubt I will ever have the need.”
“Sure… So, I caught Donna briefing the press last week. Impressive.”
“Claudia Jean, I beg you to not make me have this conversation.”
“But what else are we going to talk about?”
“I saw Toby.”
“……………”
“CJ?”
“How is he?”
“Living on rage.”
“I suppose… it’s only to be expected.”
“It wasn’t a very successful meeting.”
“It couldn’t be anything else. Toby’s on the outside now. He’s got his nose pressed to the glass and the only one that he can blame is himself. So, he going to try to make everyone as miserable and lonely as he is. Especially you, Josh.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are the smartest and, for the first time, Toby has to admit it. Because you saw the real thing and were brave enough to go after it on your own. And he stood by and let you. Because you are his brother and he can direct all his rage at you and know that you will still forgive him. He just needs to work out his frustrations on something.”
“Or someone.”
“You willing to get kicked around for a couple hours?”
“And how is that different from the rest of my life?”
“Well, the kicking would be done by a guy who’s going to try to prove he’s smarter than you.”
“Again, this is different how?”
“Josh….”
“Don’t worry, CJ. Do you want me to call and give you the play by play?”
“Just the final score.”
“Kay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Take care, Josh.”
“Bye.”
“Hey! Josh?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you know about Kazakhstan?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
“You will.”
“So you think you still want my job?”
“CJ, I have never wanted your job.”
“You were always smarter than the rest of us.”
“Sure, because here I am despite my better judgment.”
“I wanted to call you sooner.”
“It’s ok. I understood.”
“Still. I couldn’t help you. You, at least, deserved to hear it from me”
“………..”
“Josh?”
“Nothing.”
“Josh…”
“CJ, I get this job. Sometimes, you have to do things or say things you don’t want to. You call in favors. You put friends in awkward positions. But you do it to protect your guy.”
“And, right now, you’re doing it without the benefit of the nifty office. But you haven’t experienced the worst part yet. The worse part about this job is that there are things that I can’t tell you… especially now.”
“South American delegation?”
“No.”
“What can you tell me?”
“Well… never use Will Bailey as your wedding consultant.”
“Heh. I can assure that will never happen. I highly doubt I will ever have the need.”
“Sure… So, I caught Donna briefing the press last week. Impressive.”
“Claudia Jean, I beg you to not make me have this conversation.”
“But what else are we going to talk about?”
“I saw Toby.”
“……………”
“CJ?”
“How is he?”
“Living on rage.”
“I suppose… it’s only to be expected.”
“It wasn’t a very successful meeting.”
“It couldn’t be anything else. Toby’s on the outside now. He’s got his nose pressed to the glass and the only one that he can blame is himself. So, he going to try to make everyone as miserable and lonely as he is. Especially you, Josh.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are the smartest and, for the first time, Toby has to admit it. Because you saw the real thing and were brave enough to go after it on your own. And he stood by and let you. Because you are his brother and he can direct all his rage at you and know that you will still forgive him. He just needs to work out his frustrations on something.”
“Or someone.”
“You willing to get kicked around for a couple hours?”
“And how is that different from the rest of my life?”
“Well, the kicking would be done by a guy who’s going to try to prove he’s smarter than you.”
“Again, this is different how?”
“Josh….”
“Don’t worry, CJ. Do you want me to call and give you the play by play?”
“Just the final score.”
“Kay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Take care, Josh.”
“Bye.”
“Hey! Josh?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you know about Kazakhstan?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
“You will.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 03:41 pm (UTC)“You willing to get kicked around for a couple hours?”
“And how is that different from the rest of my life?”
Quite - poor Josh!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-19 02:57 am (UTC)Here's my share... (I'm a bitch, I apologize)
I love CJ/Josh fics where they're all bro/sisterly. Makes me smile and think of earlier seasons.
Gracis chica, well done.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-19 03:07 am (UTC)Gracias, mi muchacha! Estoy muy contenta que te gusta mi estoria! (Man, I hope I'm remembering my Spanish right!)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-19 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-20 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-20 01:31 pm (UTC)“Living on rage.”
Poor Toby. I miss Toby. I hate what they did to him.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-21 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-04 10:59 pm (UTC)i really do love how CJ really stepped up to be the Chief of Staff, and i actually think i have to go with "it was just bad writing" for the justification of making Josh, who was portrayed as such a smart guy in the beginning who occasionally let his mouth run off, become someone who was always making the mistakes. i mean, i get the genius-mistake graph...the smarter a person is, the bigger the mistake will be (i direct your attention to the Rodney McKay phenomenon), and i think i get that they were just really trying to make him leave, but i never liked the Angela Blake thing, as much as John Spencer's great acting made it seem so logical at the time.
and the fact that Josh and CJ drift apart because Josh drifts away from *everyone* starting in season 6 breaks my heart. therefore i love these little interludes where she tries to make sense of the why. i think that's what made me love her beyond her ability to be the funny one - she knew it was over her head, and she *never* made it look like it was.
thanks for sharing :o)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-09 02:16 am (UTC)Hmmm... that's an interesting interpretation. One I had not thought of, truthfully. I always looked at this piece as just a little scene that highlighted the fact that even though everyone's life had taken them in different directions, they still had an unshakable bond.
Season 6 was rough. You could feel the show's growing pains as it transformed from what it was under Sorkin to something totally different. But, you have to have Season 6 in order to have Season 7, so I guess it's worth it. But man, it was painful at times.