The Rarest Faith by Marguerite

[fourteenlines.livejournal.com]

Fandom:THE WEST WING
Pairing: CJ/Toby, Sam/OFC, others
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Gray Area
Why this must be read:

This is a long, long read, easily novel-length, plotty and political and personal and one of my favorite West Wing stories ever. The premise is simple: It begins with the defeat of the Democratic presidential candidate in 2006. This story covers the next four years, delving into the characters' personal lives and political careers, and eventually, a new campaign, as Sam Seaborn prepares to run for president.

But the writing of this story...the trueness make it so much more than that. It's a beautiful, hopeful story much more about people than about politics. It's about love, and friendship, and loyalty, and the victory of ideals. It's everything that I love about The West Wing, and it moved me to tears on more than one occasion.

"We survived when Sam went home." Leo recalled all too clearly those first few
days, when Toby had haunted the halls and Jed had stared at Sam's last speech as
if it were a lost chapter of Scripture. "It hurt like hell, but we survived. And
these people aren't dropping off the face of the Earth."

"No, but I will be. Abbey and I are going back to the farm, Leo, out in the
middle of nowhere, still surrounded by guards but not for a good reason."

"Ron's going to be on your detail." Ron Butterfield had requested permission to
leave the White House, citing continuing problems with his hand that had been
damaged by the bullet in Rosslyn.

"But Josh and Sam will be on the Hill, and C.J. will be in some big town making
a splash. And Toby - who knows where he'll end up?" Bartlet rubbed his hands
together and tilted his head up as if inspecting the ceiling. "The worst of it
is that I won't see you."

"I'm moving to Boston, not Bahrain. You'll see me."

"Not like this. I won't be able to open a door and have you there, waiting to
advise me."

The Rarest Faith (This takes you to the first part of the first chapter. You can navigate the rest of the parts from there.)