It was amazing how, in only eight hours, she had fallen totally in love with this man. Or maybe she had been falling in love with him all along, and just hadn't realized it, or hadn't wanted to realize it. All she knew was that Sam had come to her rescue yesterday. Didn't the knight in shining armor and the beautiful princess always live happily ever after? She smiled to herself as she knocked on Sam's door. He looked up, startled.

"Hey there," Ainsley drawled, smiling. Sam rose from his chair and came around his desk to meet her, a matching grin spreading across his face.

"Hi," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist. She circled her arms around his neck. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'll feel better as soon as you kiss me, Sam," she replied with a teasing grin.

"Yes, ma'am." Sam leaned in to kiss her gently, then tightened his arms around her waist as the kiss grew deeper.

"Ah-hem. Couldn't you two, you know, get a room?" Sam and Ainsley pulled apart guiltily to find C.J. leaning against the doorjamb, her eyebrows raised. Ainsley blushed, but Sam kept one arm securely around her waist.

"C.J...we were just..."

"Yeah, I saw. May I ask when this," she gestured at Sam's arm around Ainsley's waist, "happened?"

Sam regarded C.J. steadily. "Last night," he replied calmly.

"Mm-hmm. And was this before or after you had a United States Congressman arrested?" C.J. waved a newspaper at Sam.

"After."

"Quite a night you two had last night." She raised her eyebrows again at Sam, then Ainsley. "I just wanted to check in with you guys, make sure I got the story straight so I know what to tell the press corps. Sam called me last night," she told Ainsley. "We need to - " Kathy knocked on the door.

"I'm sorry, Ainsley?" she asked hesitantly, looking around.

"Yes?"

"I was just asked to tell you that there's someone in your office, a Toni Wilson."

"Okay. Thank you." Ainsley turned back to C.J. "I'd better go see what this is about."

"Sure," C.J. replied. "We'll talk when you're done." Sam never took his eyes off Ainsley, watching her walk away. C.J. waited until she was safely out of earshot before turning back to Sam.

"Well, you've really done it this time, Sam." C.J. closed the door behind her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam replied evenly.

"First a call girl, then the Chief of Staff's daughter. I suppose it was only a matter of time before you went after our newest staff member. Who, by the way, just happens to be a blond, thin, Republican!"

"Which bothers you more, C.J., that she's a staff member or that she's a Republican?"

C.J. ignored him. "Are you sleeping with her?" she asked.

"I don't really see how - "

"Are you sleeping with her, Sam?" C.J. pressed.

Sam's calmness was gone now. "No, C.J, I'm not!" he shouted. "Not that it's any of your business, but since you seem to think it is, no, I am not sleeping with her!"

C.J. looked satisfied. "Good."

"And do you know why I'm not sleeping with her?" he continued.

"Because you know that it would be a really bad idea, Sam?" C.J. replied, raising her voice to match Sam's. "Because you know that the press would not hesitate to claim 'sexual harassment' and criticize our hiring policies?"

"Because I am falling in love with that woman," he pointed at the door she had so recently walked through, "and I know that this has potential. She's not some casual one-night stand, C.J.; she's an intelligent and competent woman, whom I look forward to having a relationship with! The reason why I didn't jump into bed with her has nothing to do with sexual harassment, and the reporters, and a jealous Press Secretary. I could give a damn about all that. It has to do with honor, and with loving someone's mind, and spirit, and personality. And if you have a problem with that, or with your own insecurities, then fine, but don't take it out on me, and don't" - he pounded his fist against the door - "take it out on Ainsley!" he railed.

C.J. stared at him with cold fire in her eyes. "Is that what you think? That I'm jealous? You think I'm making a thing out of this because I'm insecure?"

"Yes," Sam spit out. "You're using Ainsley and I as a metaphor for you and Danny. You know it can't work out with him as long as he's a reporter and you're the Press Secretary, and you're unleashing your frustration on us. Well, go vent to your fish," he spat out as if 'fish' was a dirty word. He opened the door wide and stared at C.J.

C.J. locked eyes with Sam, each with matching fury in their eyes, before storming out of his office, reaching around behind her to slam the door.

*****

Ainsley opened her office door, a smile still lingering on her face from thinking about Sam. A young woman sat in the chair nearest the wall, clutching a briefcase on her lap.

"You must be Toni Wilson." Ainsley said politely, moving behind her desk.

The girl nodded furiously. Ainsley guessed she couldn't have been more than 25. She had bright red hair that hung to her shoulders, and she was wearing a clean, neat blue suit that suggested capability. Ainsley liked her right away, although she could tell that the girl - Toni - was a little nervous.

"Hi, I'm Ainsley Hayes." Ainsley stuck out her hand.

"Toni Wilson." The girl let go of her briefcase long enough to shake Ainsley's hand, then went back to holding the briefcase.

Ainsley sat down. "What can I do for you, Ms. Wilson?"

"Call me Toni, please." She took a deep breath. "I read the article in the paper this morning about you and...Congressman Paterson." She opened the briefcase and removed the Washington Post, handing it to Ainsley.

Ainsley was startled. She hadn't seen the coverage yet, and she was a little apprehensive about what it might say. Glancing it over, it seemed to be a basically fair article. She nodded, handing the paper back to Toni.

"I'm an aide in Congresswoman Davis' office," Toni explained, "and I had an experience similar to yours when I worked for Congressman Paterson."

Ainsley looked up. "You worked for Paterson?" she asked. Toni nodded. "When?"

"I quit four months ago. My experience wasn't as severe as yours, but I know some other people..." She trailed off. "Let me begin again. I know some other girls who were attacked or harrassed in some other way by Congressman Paterson. If you were planning on suing him for sexual harrassment, we would be willing to join your suit, and willing to testify," she explained succintly.

"Sue him?" Ainsley echoed. Toni nodded. "How many girls do you know?"

"Three." Ainsley shuddered. "All with different stories, in varying degrees of harrassment. I was one of the lucky ones. It was just little stuff, like brushing past my arm, or pinching my bottom as he walked by. I saw what was happening and quit before it could get out of hand."

"Do these other girls still work for him?"

"Two of them do."

"Have any of you ever sued Congressman Paterson?"

"No. We were hoping for a more high-profile suit to join in."

"I see. And you thought..."

"That you might be that suit, yes."

Ainsley pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "Okay," she began. "I'm just going to go talk this over with some of the President's advisors, namely C.J. Cregg, the Press Secretary. I'd like her to hear what you have to say. Also, I'd like to get another lawyer in here, a second opinion."

Toni relaxed visibly in her chair. "That's fine. I'll be right here." Ainsley smiled and nodded before leaving the office, closing the door gently behind her.

* * * * * *

Sam took a deep breath before knocking cautiously on C.J.'s door.

"What?" snapped C.J. from within.

"It's Sam." He waited. When there was no reply, he tried again. "Can I come in?"

"No."

Sam decided to throw caution to the wind and open the door anyway. He peeked his head around the door. C.J. was reading a memo, making notes as she read. He watched her pen fly furiously across the page.

"Listen, C.J., what I said before...I'm sorry," he offered, stepping gingerly into the office.

C.J.'s head snapped up. She stopped writing and looked at Sam. "Good." She went back to writing.

"It was out of line," he continued.

"Yes it was," C.J. replied, this time without stopping or looking up.

Sam sat down in one of the chairs facing the desk. "C.J.?"

C.J. sighed and put down her pen. She looked up at Sam, rubbing her temples. "Look, Sam, I'm sorry too. Maybe you were right, I'm just upset about the whole thing with Danny." She offered Sam a tentative smile. "But, God, Sam, don't you realize how bad this could get?"

"I don't see why this has to be a thing. "

"Sam, the press is going to love the fact that the Deputy Communications Director for the White House is sleeping with the President's newest Associate Counsel."

"I'm not - "

"They don't know that, Sam," C.J. pointed out tiredly. "It's just a good story to them. Especially coming off the heels of the picture with the - "

"Laurie." Sam didn't want to hear her say "call girl" again.

"Right. Sorry."

Sam reached across the desk and took C.J.'s hands comfortingly. "Okay, C.J. Just tell the press that this relationship isn't about sex. It's about more than that. Ainsley and I respect each other, and we would like the press to afford us that same respect."

C.J. smiled. "I can sell that."

Sam returned the smile. "Good."

A knock at the door startled them both. "Am I interrupting something important?" Ainsley asked.

Sam jumped up to meet her at the door. "Hey," he greeted her, squeezing her hands and leaning in to give her a quick kiss.

C.J. smiled to herself. They really were very cute together. "Hi, Ainsley."

Ainsley peeked her head around Sam's, blushing. "Hi. Sorry." C.J. noticed that they were still holding hands. "Were you guys busy?"

C.J. waved her hand. "No, we're done. You can have Sam." C.J. started to go back to work.

"Actually, I was looking for both of you. Do you guys have a free minute?" Ainsley asked, looking from C.J. to Sam and back to C.J. again.

C.J. looked up from her work. "Something wrong?"

"No, I just wondered if you guys could come down to my office to meet someone. This girl in my office, Toni Wilson, is wondering if I'm going to sue Congressman Paterson for sexual harrassment," she explained.

"Are you?" C.J. asked.

Ainsley looked at Sam. "I don't know yet. Toni knows three other girls who were harrassed by Paterson." Ainsley felt Sam bristle with anger beside her and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "She says the girls, and she, would be willing to join my suit and testify in court against Paterson. I want to know what you guys think."

C.J. stood up quickly. "Okay."

Sam nodded. "Okay."

Ainsley smiled. "Good."

*****

Ainsley showed the way down the stairs to her office. She led Sam by the hand, with C.J. following closely behind.

"Sam," Ainsley whispered.

"Yeah?"

"If I do decide to sue, I'm going to need a lawyer," she pointed out.

"You've got a lawyer," Sam whispered back.

"I do? Who?" Ainsley asked, feigning innocence.

"Me," Sam answered her, grinning.

"Oh, you." Ainsley pretended to be disappointed, but couldn't resist grinning back at Sam. He poked her in the side, and it took all her reserve not to burst out laughing. She poked him back, giggling. They jostled each other the rest of the way to Ainsley's office, while C.J. pretended not to notice them acting like two kids in love.

"Toni?" Ainsley asked as she opened the door to her office.

"Right here, Ms. Hayes."

"Ainsley, please." She led the way into the office.

"Ainsley. Sorry." Toni smiled an easy smile.

Ainsley sat down in her chair behind her desk. "Toni, this is C.J. Cregg, the President's Press Secretary," she introduced, gesturing at C.J., who took the chair next to Toni.

"Nice to meet you," replied C.J., shaking Toni's hand.

"Same here."

"And this is the Deputy Communications Director, Sam Seaborn." Ainsley couldn't resist smiling as she introduced Sam. Sam reached over to shake Toni's hand before perching on the edge of Ainsley's desk, his legs swinging over the side.

"Why don't you tell us your story, Toni?" C.J.began.

"I don't know where to start," Toni whispered nervously. She began fidgeting with her hands.

"Why don't you start at the beginning?"

"Okay." Toni took a deep breath. "I started working for Paterson about ten months ago. When I started working for him, a few of the other girls in the office told me they had heard rumors about his harrassing female aides, but they didn't offer any specifics. After a few months of working for him, he began making comments about my appearance, my clothes, my body, stuff like that. Then, he'd brush past me purposely or lean over me at a meeting. I started to feel uncomfortable, but didn't say anything. It wasn't until he tried things like pinching my butt or staring at my chest that I started to seriously consider this sexual harrassment. After six months of working for him, I quit and found a job with Congresswoman Davis." She looked at C.J., Ainsley, and Sam expectantly.

"Did you ever confront him about his behavior?" asked Sam.

"No."

"Did you notify any authorities?"

"I quit before it came to that." She looked at Sam. "The other girls have worse stories," she said quietly.

"Would you mind telling us?" Sam asked gently.

Toni hesitated for a moment. "I don't want to offer a lot of specifics, but I'll give you an idea. There's one girl, Congressman Paterson would ask her out to dinner or drinks almost every night, but she always said no. Then he began to invite her back to his apartment or make sexual suggestions to her. She kept refusing, until he threatened to fire her if she didn't go out with him. She quit before he could fire her." She looked at the group. "The other girls still work for Paterson, and their situations are a little bit worse."

"One girl never had any problem with him, until he attacked her totally out of the blue. She walked into his office and he closed the door behind her. Before she had any idea what was happening, he had her on the floor and her shirt off." Ainsley closed her eyes, bad memories flooding back to her. Sam closed his hand over hers with a gentle squeeze, watching her intently. She opened her eyes to see him looking at her with a look of concern in his eyes. She smiled weakly, the memories fading. The moment passed unnoticed by Toni, who continued talking, but C.J. felt the last of her reserve about the couple melting away. They were good for each other.

"Fortunately for her, the girl had taken self defense classes, and somehow managed to squeeze out from under him and flip him over, knocking the wind out of him. She kneed him in the crotch and ran out. She still works there, but he hasn't said or done anything to her since then, and that was three months ago."

"And the other girl?" asked C.J., with a sinking feeling in her heart.

Toni met her eyes gravely. "She has it worst of all. He threatened her with her job unless she slept with him. She's a single mother, with a high rent, and was taking college classes at night to finish her degree . She couldn't afford to lose her job. She was too scared to say no." Toni lowered her voice. "She's been sleeping with him for almost five months, and can't bring herself to tell someone or to quit. He pays her pretty well, and she needs that. He told her that she'll never get a job anywhere else with a son born out of wedlock, and she believes him. She's totally under his thumb," Toni ended in disgust. C.J., Sam, and Ainsley just gaped at her in shock.

Sam was the first to recover. "Well, I'd say there's definitely a good case here, if the other girls agree to testify." He looked at Toni, who nodded. "I'd like to meet with the other three and discuss this further before we take any action."

"Sure. I'll call them and see when they can meet with you. I'll call you guys back," Toni told Sam, looking from him to Ainsley to C.J.

"That's fine," Ainsley told her. Sam handed Toni a business card, since Ainsley didn't have any of her own yet.

"I guess that's it, then." Toni stood from the chair, smoothing out her skirt. "It was a pleasure to meet you all," she told them politely, offering her hand. "You've been a real help."

"Any time," replied Ainsley with a smile. Toni waved and left the office, closing the door as she went.

The remaining three looked at each other uncertainly.

"Sam, do you really think we have a chance with a sexual harrassment lawsuit?" Ainsley asked.

"With five plaintiffs, yes.The only problem is that there's no evidence."

"What do you think, C.J.? Should we do it?"

"I can't help you legally, but I do know that something has to be done. I can't believe this has gone on for as long as it has," C.J. exclaimed, outraged.

"How is the press going to take it?" Sam asked.

"Well, if we give them an official statement about being on the side of right and good, I can't see how this would work against us." C.J. looked at Sam and Ainsley seriously. "But right now, we should discuss how to handle the issue of you guys as a couple."

Ainsley felt her face flush again. "Why do we have to say anything?"

"Because if the press doesn't already know, they'll know soon. Someone will tell them, or they'll see you. I'm guessing you guys aren't going to want to see each other behind closed doors," C.J. added unneccessarily.

"No," replied Sam.

"Well, as soon as you go out in public together, you're game for the reporters," C.J. explained.

"So we tell them that the White House doesn't comment on staff's personal lives."

"That's not going to cut it."

"Why not?"

"Because since you work together, there are going to be questions of sexual harrassment in the workplace. You know, the demerits of office dating, stuff like that."

"C.J., you can tell the press that this isn't sexual harrassment because it isn't about sex. It's about...something else," he finished lamely.

"Hard to believe he's a speechwriter for the President, isn't it?" C.J. grinned as she stood up. "Okay, I have a briefing to go to." She left the office with a wave.

Ainsley came around from behind her desk to sit next to Sam on the desk. She laced her fingers through his with a sigh. Ainsley rested her head on his shoulder, looking down at their intertwined fingers.

"It's going to be a long few weeks, isn't it?" she asked wearily.

"It's only the beginning," Sam told her, kissing the top of her head.

They stayed that way for a long time, Ainsley's head on Sam's shoulder, his head leaning slightly against hers, their fingers interlocked.

Ainsley couldn't believe how comfortable she was with him. Only the morning before, he was nothing to her, and now he was everything to her.

She almost hated to break the pleasant silence, but she wanted to ask something. "Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"How bad is the media interrogation going to be?"

Sam lifted his head from hers and looked into her eyes. "I honestly don't think it's going to be that bad. We're not trying to sneak around or keep this from anyone, it's not something bad or embarrassing that could hurt the administration," Sam pointed out. "Plus, you're not going through it alone." He smiled. "We're in with, and because of, each other."

Ainsley smiled. "Do you think we should tell Leo and everyone yet?"

"They'll find out in a minute anyway, from C.J.'s briefing." Sam stood up, pulling Ainsley to her feet with him. "Let's go watch the briefing, see what she says about us."

* * * * * *

Sam and Ainsley crept into the back of the press room just as C.J. said "Last question. Katie?"

"C.J., is there any truth to the rumor that Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn is dating new Associate Counsel Ainsley Hayes?"

Sam squeezed Ainsley's hand as they waited for C.J.'s answer. C.J. removed her glasses calmly and looked right out at the press corps.

"While the White House does not officially comment on staff members' personal lives, I can tell you this. Sam Seaborn and Ainsley Hayes are involved in what appears to be the beginnings of a serious relationship. The two care for each other deeply, and I believe this has the potential to become a committed, long-term relationship. And before the cynics out there start screaming 'sexual harassment,' let me tell you that Sam and Ainsley's relationship is not about sex. It's about something bigger than that. It's about love, and caring, and respect. Sam and Ainsley have the utmost respect for each other, and they ask that the press afford them the same respect. Thank you." C.J. left the podium and exited the room amidst cries of "C.J.! C.J.!"

In the back of the room, unnoticed by the frantic members of the White House Press Corps, Sam squeezed Ainsley's hands and kissed her gently. "Well, how did that compare with your expectations?" he asked, unable to stop a grin from spreading across his face.

Ainsley returned the grin, feeling her heart fill up with love, and caring, and respect. She flung her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately before whispering, "We're going to be okay, aren't we?" She ended on a hopeful note.

Sam locked gazes with her, seeing in her eyes all her hopes for the future. "Yeah," Sam responded, kissing her again, "we're going to be okay."