"CJ." Sam knocked on the mostly closed door, and entered quietly as he saw her staring fixatedly at the television screen. Her arms crossed in front of her body, her hunched shoulders stiff, and her lips pressed into a thin line. A video recording of the earlier press briefing was playing.

"I said 'relieved'." She rewinded and played the segment again. "Relieved."

"Yeah. You did." Sam closed the door. He walked across the room, and settled beside CJ leaning against her desk.

CJ chuckled humourlessly. "Ironic choice of word, isn't it."

"You misspoke. You made a mistake. It happens."

"I'm the White House Press Secretary, Spanky. And I'm good. I don't misspeak."

"You were tired. Under tremendous stress."

"Try telling that to the White House press corps."

"They ramped you up."

"And I let them. I screwed up, big time."

"We'll fix it."

"How?"

"Still working on it. But we're a smart bunch. We'll have something."

"It might not be good enough."

"We still have an hour. We have options." Sam breathed out a heavy sigh. "Listen, CJ. You made a mistake, not even a small one, nevertheless a fixable one. Josh had Mary Marsh, Toby had Anne Stark, I had Laurie, and Leo had Lillienfield. Things happen. We fix them and we move on. Let's do the same here."

"I tried to clean it up in there. It's just... I blanked. Totally blanked."

"You're tired. We all are."

"I'm not sure if I can do this anymore, Sam."

"Believe me, you're not the only one who feels that way."

"But I'm the one who screwed up." CJ closed her eyes for a moment. "The president doesn't need this right now."

"CJ, I hardly think - "

"I'm drafting my letter of resignation."

"It doesn't have to come to this."

"We can't afford it, Sam. This administration can't afford mistakes like these. Not right now."

"We can fix this."

"We don't have a choice."

"CJ - "

"I should go. Leo wanted to see me." Putting down the remote on her desk, CJ picked up her folders and walked towards the door. "Don't you have press releases to write? Press secretary blunders to spin?"

"Fine." Sam's jaw tightened, and remained silent. His eyes followed the retreating figure.

"Hey, Spanky." CJ paused at the door, then turned to face him again. "Thanks, for coming by."

"Yeah. Anytime." Sam answered with a heavy sigh. He followed CJ out the door, and met her eyes again. Then he turned and strode towards his own office.