John's Quest

John's Quest

By: Abra de Winter

Beta By: dot – who saved this chapter from a very unfortunate fate with excellent observations and advices.

Pairing: John Hoynes/Ellie Bartlet - Romance

Rating: R

Spoilers: season 5 episodes 15 – "Full Disclosure" and 16 – "Eppur si muove"

Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, Bravo, A John Wells Prod., TV show, 'The West Wing'. They are the creation of Aaron Sorkin.

Feedback: yes, please!


Chapter XI

“Is he worth it, Ellie?”

“Zoey, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You don’t have a choice any more. You can’t expect me to leave you alone after you sprang this on us.”

“Why not? What’s so damn horrible about what I did?”

“I wouldn’t say horrible. It’s not exactly horrible. Just shocking. A little perverse maybe.”

“Why? Because he’s older than me? Divorced? Because he quit his job two years ago?”

“Because he’s John Hoynes. And you can’t say he quit his job. That wasn’t a regular job he had. He betrayed the trust of the people who elected him.”

“Unlike Dad, who has been so upfront about his health from the beginning!” Ellie replied, upset.

“Don’t drag Dad into this!”

“I’m not the one dragging him into this. He’s the main reason the situation is so weird. If it weren’t for his resentment toward John, you might actually be happy for me. No-one else in our family hates John. I remember very well what we were saying about him, less than two years ago.”

“Slumber party talk over a gallon of ice-cream is not the same as a lifetime commitment.”

“You know, if I were anyone else but President Bartlet’s daughter, everyone would see me as a gold digger.”

“Oh, yes.” Zoey grinned. “He’s loaded. I forgot. So, is that why you’re doing this?” she asked, wriggling her eyebrows.

“Very funny!”

“Well, he is, isn’t he? Good instinct, sis. Maybe that’s the argument that’s gonna swing Dad over.”

“Zoey!”

“Oh, where’s your sense of humor?”

“I lost it on the way here. I hope I’ll find it again when we leave.”

“Didn’t you swear that you were never getting involved with a politician? I’m pretty sure I remember you saying that when Dad won the nomination.”

“Things change. I kept out of politics and what good did that do me? Last year they politicized my research just to take a swing at Dad.”

“You aren’t still angry about that?”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

“Surely you can’t blame Dad for that.”

“Really? Who do you think I should blame?”

“Ellie.” Suddenly, Zoey looked very serious. “Tell me you’re not doing this just to annoy Dad?”

Ellie stared at her, apparently on the verge of a revelation.

“Ellie!”

“No,” she answered, eventually. “No, I’m not.” But her voice lacked conviction. “I love him, Zoey.” She tried to put the memory of the last tumultuous months into her tone.

She loved him, but if she had to be completely honest with herself, she would not have dated him if she were not sure that her father didn’t like him. Zoey was right. She had vowed to stay away from politicians. But she had not stayed away. And she loved him.


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Ellie woke up feeling the pressure of a warm body molded against hers. She kept her eyes shut, enjoying the new sensation. She had carefully avoided any sleepovers before, and though the sensation was amazing, she decided would keep it that way after they left the farm. That didn’t stop her memorizing every little detail, to last her for the six weeks until her wedding night.

He had started stirring, and Ellie hesitated for a while. She wanted to go all the way, but a morning quickie, before having showered or even brushed her teeth was not the memory she wanted for their first time.

“John,” she whispered.

He moaned and rolled partially on top of her. His right hand had settled over her breast and that felt so good…

He suddenly jerked his head away from her breast.

“Good morning,” she greeted him with a smile.

John jumped out of bed, and started apologizing.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“I know.”

Ellie swallowed, trying to ignore the way his morning erection showing through his boxers matched her own desire.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After enduring the tense atmosphere throughout lunch, Ellie led John to a folly her great-grandfather had built more than half a century ago. She used to go there whenever she needed to be alone.

“I hope you won’t find it too boring when people get over the shock,” John said, holding her in his arms.

“That’s not going to be any time soon, is it?” she smiled. “We still have to face your parents, your friends, my friends, the press…”

It was pretty hard to believe, but Ellie was beginning to feel the general disapproval of their relationship as less of a deterrent and more as an incentive.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“I’m beginning to feel sorry for him,” Jed told Leo out of the blue.

“What? Why?” his friend asked, stunned.

“I don’t think she’s that much in love with him. In hindsight, he never did have good instincts about women. Suzanne was a cold shrew, and as for Helen Baldwin…”

“You can’t compare Ellie with them! She’s too good for him!”

“Come on, Leo, she’s just as wrong for him as he is for her.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


By late on Saturday, things seemed to have finally settled down. Ellie looked around at her family, and, for the first time that weekend, she saw them acting normally, not tense or strange or cautious. Even Leo’s eyes had stopped throwing flames, and he was smiling at something Jordan was telling him. But she didn’t relax. There was one person, conspicuous through his absence, who hadn’t yet accepted her choice. Ellie knew she had to face him. She went to see him while John was talking to her mother.

Her father was in the library, looking over some documents. Ellie’s favorite memory of her father was during his days as a simple college professor. She knew that this time he wasn’t grading papers, but he looked much the same as he had fifteen years ago, before he had become the Governor of New Hampshire, long before the Presidency nightmare. She shook her head. He wasn’t the gentle, annoyingly pedantic college professor any more. For all she knew, he was approving the sale of arms to Qumar.

“Hi, Dad.’

“Hello, Ellie.”

“How are you?”

“Not that well.”

“I can tell.”

“Can you? I don’t think you can, or you wouldn’t do this.”

“Do what, Dad? Fall in love? Get married?”

“To someone like Hoynes? Haven’t you learned anything from his past?”

“That’s all it is. His past.”

“Those who don’t learn from the mistakes of the past are bound to repeat them.”

“I’ve made no mistakes. I have nothing to repeat.”

“His mistakes, Ellie.”

“I’m appointing myself his guardian angel. If I guarantee you he won’t make any more mistakes, will you give us your blessing?”

“Do you even want it?”

“Yes. But I could live without it because I have a lifetime to prove to you that I made the right choice. What bothers me most of all is that your attitude, your prejudices, influence the whole family. I love our family and I love you, Dad, but if you keep this up, I’ll have to make my own family. Without all of you.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Am I really so important to you that you see it as a threat?”

“Of course you’re important to me, Ellie. I thought you knew that by now.”

“This isn’t really about me at all, is it? It’s about you and John.”

“John,” he said in a disgusted tone.

“Yes! John. The man I’m going to marry in less than two months. But that’s not how you see him. You still see him as a rival. As the man who nearly beat you for the nomination. You have no idea how often I wished these past years that he had won that time.”

“If he had, he would still be married. You would have missed the love of your life.”

“At least I would have had a normal life. Not a press release.”

“So you’re just doing this to punish me for becoming President?”

“No, Dad. It’s you who is punishing us. Me for wanting him. Him for helping you become President.”

“Is that what he told you? That I owe him the elections? That he handed me the South?”

“No. He didn’t have to tell me anything. I’m not deaf, or blind, or stupid. You preach tolerance for others’ beliefs, but you don’t tolerate his views. Actually, you resent him. Because he helped you. And because he wanted credit for it.”

“He had all the credit that was due to him. He was Vice President of the United States. He threw it away.”

“Thank God you’re perfect, Dad.”

“I loathe him, Ellie. I can’t help it.”

“And that takes precedence over the love you should have for me?”

“No. I’m trying to accept him, but I’m worried for you. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“When has that ever mattered in love?”

“I’m afraid he’ll hurt you.”

“That’s something you shouldn’t worry about. If I learned anything from you, it’s that I should never give a man enough power to hurt me. So rest assured, he won’t hurt me more that you have.”

“I’m sorry. How did I… I never meant to hurt you…”

“I never lived up to your expectations. You’ve always made me feel like I failed you in some way. Even if things don’t work out with me and John, that won’t mean you’re right. This is my choice.”

“You are not a failure, Ellie.”

“I am to you.”

Jed Bartlet looked, puzzled, at his daughter. He couldn’t believe that under the cool, collected exterior of this beautiful young woman was hidden such a deep-seated self-doubt. He had always taken his daughter’s love for granted, even at the worst times in their relationship.

“I love you, Ellie. I’m your father. I do worry you might make a mistake. Both of you. But if you’re sure it’s what you want, I truly hope… I hope you’ll be very happy together.”

He held out his arms to her. Ellie regarded him for a long moment, and then sighed. She hugged him dutifully.

“OK, Dad,” she said. “I suppose that’s the best you can do.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


An easy way assessing Ellie’s level of anxiety was to take a quick look around her room. The tidier it was, the higher her stress levels. After talking to her father, Ellie went straight to her room and started to tidy up.

“I was wondering where you were,” John said, coming in. “You just disappeared.”

“I wanted to be alone for a while. They’ve calmed down now, but seeing them all together started to annoy me. I haven’t seen so much of my family since Zoey’s kidnapping,” Ellie said, rearranging some clothes, careful to keep her face turned away from John.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just tired,” she lied. “Here. I made you some space in the wardrobe. I know we leave in the morning, but I wanted to mark another step in our relationship.”

“I’d rather have some space in your apartment.”

“Hey, don’t ask for too much. I’ve never even been in your apartment.”

“That’s because you have unresolved intimacy issues. And because it was too much of a risk for you to come to Washington. But you don’t have that excuse any more. You’ll have to come.”

“We’ll see.”

“I love your enthusiasm,” he said, kissing her on the shoulder. “All right then. Let’s mark this stage of our relationship.”

He put his clothes neatly in the empty drawer. He had finished and was about to close the doors when his gaze fell on an unusual piece of clothing hanging neatly on a coat hanger.

“What’s this?” he asked, pointing at the dress.

“Oh, that’s my high school uniform. I told you I went to a Catholic school.”

“Why is it here, with your regular clothes? Do you still wear it?”

“Actually, I wore it last Halloween.”

“Could you please pack it for the honeymoon? Along with that skimpy little thing you wore yesterday at tennis.”

“You’d like that? What outfits will you bring? Do you have a cowboy suit? We could play the Catholic schoolgirl and the good ol’ boy.”

“You don’t need a costume to be a good ol’ boy. You just have to talk this way,” he said in a lazy voice, with a strong southern accent. “Treat your lady right. Do just about anything to please her.”

John’s low tone was resonating through her body. She licked her lips nervously, and pulled him closer. This time she wasn’t going to let him get the upper hand.

“What if the lady wants to please him?” she asked, and pushed him onto the bed.

John landed on his back, already heavily turned on. Ellie straddled him, moving very slowly. She settled over his groin, and began to rock softly back and forth.

She leaned over and kissed him, but she left him wanting more. She brushed his hands from her hair and stood up again. She unbuttoned her shirt slowly, and as soon as she released her breasts from their lacy enclosure John cupped them eagerly. Ellie bit her lip painfully, trying to stop herself from moaning when he started rubbing her hardened nipples. This turned out to be next to impossible once he sat up and started sucking on one while still rasping the other. She pressed his head harder against her breast, and instinctively created a pleasurable rhythm by grinding her body against him.

“The door is unlocked,” she said, in between gasps.

He didn’t seem to have heard, and Ellie had no will to stop him. She had lost all sense of caution when he said:

“We should lock it.”

She stood up, regretfully, and started to walk toward the door when he caught her hand and pulled her onto the bed, next to him. He sat on one elbow and caressed her swollen breast, which still bore marks of his teeth and his beard.

“I should have shaved before doing this.”

“Are you kidding? It was amazing.”

Her voice sounded hoarse from all the silent screaming and her mounting desire. Her tone, along with her words, acted like a powerful aphrodisiac and before he knew it, John was on top of her, plunging his tongue ravenously in her mouth. To his surprise, Ellie parted her legs to accommodate him. He began thrusting against her, in an attempt to obtain release.

“John, stop,” she whispered after a while. “They can hear the bed.”

“We’re getting a soundproof room on our honeymoon,” he said, after he stopped moving, “because I’m not going to hold back for anything!”