Knitting Therapy

I now post here the results of last night's Drabble Fest in the Haines 3 Nook (minus the pirates, which will be posted elsewhere. Mmm, piracy):

Flashback (J/D, J/S, PG)

Warm. Heavy thing on chest. Can't breathe.

I wake with a start - panic. I'm at Rosslyn again, my chest so heavy that air can't get to my (collapsed) lung. My body aches, my head hurts badly. I squint against the light, and...

Then I remember. A bar, Sam's phone call: he's not coming back. And then there were beers — and like Donna says, I have a delicate system.

Donna. It’s her roommate's cat on my chest, feral eyes glaring at me for invading. Donna's here, dimming the lights because of my hangover.

Sam's left me, but Donna's still here.



Dreams and Nightmares (CJ/Danny, G)

Acres of pure white sand leading down to the waves crashing on the beach, and all I can do is rest. It's been too long, the stress too high, and there are three years to go, but it melts away in the glow. Someone else is here — Danny, and his voice is soothing, like rumbling thunder.

There's a slam. I wake up because the dream is a nightmare and Zoey's still missing and I've dozed off at my desk after too many hours of sleeplessness.

But Danny's standing there. "CJ — she's alive." He smiles, and propriety can’t stop the embrace.


The Price of Teamwork (Ainsley, G)

"Y'all are gambling?" She stopped abruptly, in the doorway, before realizing who surrounded the table. "Mr. President — sir, I did not mean to imply any sort of wrongdoing on the part of the Chief Executive but if the press, perhaps, received word that the senior staff-"

They were all there: CJ, Toby, Josh, Sam, Leo, and President Bartlet. Even Ed, Larry, and the secretaries. She was the stranger, the Republican.

With a nod, another chair was pulled up. "Join us, Ainsley."

She shouldn't, it would be improper —

Mrs. Landingham beamed. "I'll give you a cookie."

After that, who could refuse?


Finally, in response to leiascully's drabble:

Mounting Scores (J/D, J/S, G)

"When I said Josh hired me, maybe I was over stating it a little bit." The blonde woman tugged on her nametag and smiled shyly in Sam's direction. "I answered his phone, and that worked."

"Look, go get coffee, do assistant things. I don't know, but do them. My appointment...?" Sam waved his hand. He had to get to Josh — this blonde creature wasn't going to come between them...

Donna shrugged. "I'm not a secretary. Secretaries get coffee." She checked the schedule. "He cancelled on you, sorry. Guess I should've called."

Her smirk was too sweet: Donna two, Sam zero.