"The end result of collecting fewer tax dollars," Will read, pacing the room and gesturing with his pencil, "is to send less money to our crumbling schools. Fewer teachers, fewer textbooks, fewer--" Will frowned. "I'm sorry, does that say 'fewer taxicabs?'"

"I haven't thought of another relevant T word," admitted 24.

"Ah," Will said. The interns lacked some polish and, apparently, a thesaurus, but they really could write.

"The rest of it's good though," 24 insisted.

"It is good," Will confirmed. "And I think of all the speeches we're adding language to, the Education Secretary has the best shot at convincing some people."

"Will?" 44 called, returning with bagels and coffee.

"Yeah?"

"First, you owe me $3.48 because they charge for the cream cheese and I wasn't sure which kind you'd want so I got two of each. Second, I saw Margaret..." She frowned. "I don't think I know her last name. Margaret, you know? Redhead, a little odd?"

"Leo's assistant?" Will supplied with subtle sarcasm. "Yes, we've met once or twice."

"Okay," 44 nodded cheerfully, stepping back as her hungry teammates descended on the food. "She asked me to tell you that Mr. McGarry wants a couple minutes of your time."

"Oh." Will glanced around in search of his suitjacket. "Okay." He unrolled one sleeve and tried desperately to smooth the wrinkles. "See if you can't come up with a third T word."

Three of the four interns shrugged absently, more concerned, it seemed, with their bagels. Will grabbed his jacket, still working on his second sleeve, and stepped out into the bracing cold. Deciding that warding off hypothermia was probably more important than the stubborn wrinkles in his shirtsleeves, Will shrugged into his jacket and stepped up his pace, gaining entry to the Northwest Lobby just before his nose went numb.

Margaret wasn't at her desk. Will peered cautiously into Leo's office.

"Will." Leo waved him in. "Yeah, listen. Toby's staying in California this week."

Will blinked. "He couldn't make bail?"

"No, he's running the campaign."

"Sam's campaign?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Will didn't remember very much about the last week of the first campaign, but he was really pretty sure there wasn't much free time. "And the President's tax plan?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, that's still on the table."

Panic slithered through Will's consciousness. "I'm sorry--the President is about to unveil a tax plan that, while positively Rawlsian in its design, is also rather difficult to fit into a soundbyte, this is all the punditocracy will be talking about this week, and the Director of Communications is--"

"On a leave of absence, yeah," Leo interrupted, rising to circle his desk.

"So that means--"

Leo paused to give Will a grin. "You're in charge."

"In charge," Will echoed.

"For a week."

"In charge of a department that, at the moment, has no staff."

"Yeah, you should hire some people," Leo suggested. "I've got a meeting."

"Okay," Will said, dropping into an armchair. "I can do this. Maybe."