Title: A Bad Day Author: Cathy Miller (cam7192003@yahoo.com) Timeline: post `Constituency of One' Rating: PG (maybe a little language) Genre: Angst (at least that's what I'm shooting for here) Disclaimer: They're not mine, but I have a Birthday coming up in a couple months... Feedback: I'm thinking of making this a requirement... A/N: I'm breaking my new rule aout not posting until the story is complete. THat rule didn't last long, did i? Just re-watched Constituency of One and thought, what if.... Josh groggily went to the door and opened it without looking through the peep hole first. It had been 6 hours since his surprise Birthday party and after the Carrick defection he really couldn't find anything to celebrate. He'd fallen into a fitful sleep only 2 hours ago and since it was 4 AM, he'd have to get up and go into work soon anyway. He didn't look forward to it, but he wasn't sure he'd have a job to go to after today so he figured he'd `enjoy' it while he could. When the door opened, a very inebriated Amy Gardner nearly fell into the apartment. Oh, God, on the list of people he did not want to deal with right now, Amy Gardner was in the top 3. "Looks like I'm not the only one having bad day J." she slurred. "Carrick was all over the news." "Yeah, I heard something about that. Why didn't you return any of my calls?" he asked as he led her over to his couch and sat her down. "At first I was embarrassed; about the whole thing with the President? Then later, I was pissed." "Pissed? Why were you pissed?" "We never really had a chance did we? I know you were just using me the first time, but this time? Were you using me again? Was it just misdirection so no one suspects you're really with your `assistant'?" "The Hell? I'm not `with' Donna." "You've always `been with' Donna. I just didn't understand the extent to which you'd `been with' Donna." "I think the alcohol is affecting your brain function. Get some sleep and we can talk tomorrow." "I think we should make employment plans tomorrow." Amy lays her head in Josh's lap and looks up at his face. "You know since neither of us will be employed by tomorrow." "We'll see about that. How did you get here? You didn't drive did you?" "A taxi. I'm drunk but I'm not stupid...or at least Cliff isn't stupid. He hailed a cab for us." Josh went completely still. "Cliff...?" "Calley. We ran into each other at the bar and started talking. Turns out...we had a lot in common. Did you know he's a sloppy drunk? Talks constantly about any subject you bring up. I brought up you and.." Josh closed his eyes. "Amy, what are you saying?" he asked cautiously. "I'm saying that tomorrow we should start our own consulting firm. We would make great business partners and maybe if it were finally just the two of us things might work better personally." "A consulting firm? Just the two of us? Why would I possibly want to leave the White House to start a consulting firm with you?" he ignored her comment about it being just the two of them. "Well for one, you're not going to have a chance to `leave' the White House. Leo McGarry and the leadership are going to kick you to the curb before lunch. Second, a private consulting firm's reputation wouldn't be hurt, may even be helped by a partner who's under indictment for a felony, but the White House would be permanently hurt if the Deputy White House Chief of Staff and his assistant were indicted while serving." Josh's head fell back onto the cushions. "He didn't mean to tell me about the felony, he was just trying to explain to me why any relationship between you and I was impossible as long as Donna was around." Amy sat up and Josh realized she wasn't nearly as drunk as she had initially let on. "So here's my question...If the first time we got together was a reaction to Donna sleeping with Cliff, what was this last time about? Was it to make her jealous or give you a beard at social functions so no one would suspect-" "I am NOT romantically involved with Donna Moss!" "Bullshit! You committed a felony to protect her. And apparently she committed a felony to protect you. Either you're involved in a secret affair with her and used me to hide it, or you'd like to be having an affair with her and you're just using me for sex because you can't have her. Which is it?" "Neither. Amy-" "I don't believe you. I want to believe you, J, I really do, but I just can't." "I don't know how I can convince you." "Start a consulting firm with me. Say goodbye to the White House and Donna and we can start over." "Amy, I have a job and-" Amy interrupted as she got up and grabbed her purse. "We'll talk tomorrow after your meeting with Leo. You may feel differently after you've thought about ALL the options that are open to both of us." "Amy, are you threatening Donna? Are you threatening me?" "Just think about your choices, J. We'll talk later." She left his apartment and Josh felt himself shaking. Just a few minutes ago, his biggest concern was losing his job, now he had much bigger problems. He supposed it would only piss Amy off more to know that is first thought wasn't about how to protect himself, but how to protect Donna. Title: A Bad Day Author: Cathy Miller (cam7192003@yahoo.com) Timeline: post `Constituency of One' Rating: PG (maybe a little language) Genre: Angst (at least that's what I'm shooting for here) Disclaimer: They're not mine, but I have a Birthday coming up in a couple months... Feedback: I'm thinking of making this a requirement... Josh's POV: Donna is waiting for me on the sidewalk as I get out of the cab. This does not bode well. I put on my best `game face' and I'm glad for the sunglasses that hide my eyes from her. We go through our usual banter, or at least I try, but I have the feeling I'm coming up short. Hopefully, she'll just chalk it up to the Carrick mess. If she knew that Amy knew about everything that Cliff knew...Wow, that sentence just totally got away from me there. Once I get into the office I shut the door and call my attorney. "Sam Seaborn please. Josh Lyman calling." I wait impatiently for Sam to pick up. Donna could walk back in here any second and I have a meeting with Leo in a few minutes. "Josh! How's it going, man?" Sam's irrepressible spirit comes through the phone lines. He must have heard about Carrick. Tribesmen in New Guinea have heard about Carrick, but he doesn't bring it up. "Fine, good. I have a question for you before I head over to meet Leo." "What kind of question?" "A legal, attorney/client privilege type question." "Okay...shoot." "What's the statute of limitations on conspiracy to obstruct justice charges?" "Five years on obstruction charges, but there's no limitations on conspiracy because it's considered to be ongoing. What's going on over there Josh?" "Nothing. Just curious. Gotta go meet Leo. I'll check in with you later. Bye." I hang up the phone before he can continue the interrogation. Shit. There goes that brilliant idea. I reluctantly head to Leo's office without making eye contact with Donna. 20 minutes and a good whacking by a 2x4 later, and I feel well and truly beaten. I'm keeping my title, my staff, and some of my portfolio. This would have been good news earlier, but now...Maybe a quiet resignation would be the best course. I could even buckle down and work with Amy, though it wouldn't last long. I'd bet the entire balance of my bank accounts that she'd walk- no run- from `our office' within a week. She doesn't have a clue what I'd be like to work with without Donna by my side. Donna comes in with her `what a shame' file and I laugh at the irony. This whole mess belongs in a `what a shame' file. I look at her face as she tries to bring my spirits up and give me something positive to work on. She would do anything for me, I know that. She's already proved that. I would do anything for her, as well. I already proved that. Until, today, though, I never examined why that is. At least, not too carefully. I couldn't/wouldn't cross that line. I guess in a way Amy was right. I did use her. Not that I didn't care about Amy or that it was my intention to use her, but the end result was the same. Now she was asking me to choose between them; prove where my heart lies. Amy isn't going to like the answer. More importantly, I need to protect Donna from whatever wrath Amy spews out once she gets the answer. Donna looks over at me at this point, sensing that I am no longer listening to her monologue. "Josh?" "If I leave the White House...would you want to stay?" "Josh?!" "I need to know, Donna." "I...I would want to work with you...if that's an option." "Of course it's an option. I just needed to know if it was an option you wanted." "The call from Harvard?" "Yeah, they'd like to discuss...options. I've had a few other calls from the private sector." "I know. I put them through. I just didn't know you were considering them. Josh...CJ says this thing with Carrick will blow over. Can't we just wait it out?" See how she said `we' there? That warmed my heart and I smile sincerely for the first time since Carrick defected. "It's not just Carrick. I may need to make a pre-emptive move." Her eyebrows raise at this comment, but I don't say anything else and she takes the hint not to go there. The phone rings and Donna answers it. She passes it along to me with the whispered comment, "It's Sam. He's called several times already." "Right. Can you close the door please?" I wait until the door is closed. "Hey, Sam." "Don't `hey Sam' me. You can't ask me a question about statutes of limitations and then hang up!" "Yeah, but now that I think about it, talking on this line isn't a real good idea anyway. Can I call you later?" "You WILL call me later?" "Promise." "Tell me this. Are you okay? Is Donna?" "More or less. No mortal peril of any kind." Although I note to myself that Sam specifically asked about Donna. Interesting. "I'll call you later. I won't be late, I'm sure. There's nothing for me to do here." I tell him dejectedly. "Why don't you come out here for a couple days? Just `til things blow over." "I don't think it's going to be that simple. And thanks for the `roll with the punches' message. It really picked me right up." I can hear Sam stutter as he tries to come up with a defense of that overused clich‚. "I'll call later." I promise again and hang up the phone. I muddle through things and try to look busy whenever someone pops in to tell me to `hang in there'. Then Leo appears. He gives me a song and dance about why he's bringing Angela Blake on board, but I don't hear anything after he tells me "No one wants you here". My jaw hits the floor. He leaves to bring Angela flipping Blake up to speed on budget negotiations, and good luck on that one, and it occurs to me what I have to do. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\ ^^^ "Josh, how are you?" "About as good as you can imagine. You know why I asked you to meet me here, right?" "I have a hunch." "Good. At least the alcohol didn't do permanent damage." "I never meant to say anything, Josh; not to her, not to anyone." "Well, I'm sure that will mean a lot to Donna when she's doing time in Federal prison, Calley." "She's not going to prison; no one is." I lean closer to Calley and he gets to see firsthand why Congressional representatives fear the Deputy Chief of Staff. "You're going to help me fix this. Now. Immediately. I don't know how much time I have before this is going to blow, but we're not going to waste a second of it, understand?" "Just how do you suggest I do that?" "We're going to start drafting some legal documents, you and I. I brought my laptop and everything." "Legal documents stating what?" "That after her testimony before the Congressional committee, Donna came to you and admitted she had perjured herself on orders from me. I didn't want news of my PTSD diagnosis to come out, so I threatened her job if she gave you any evidence about it. She couldn't live with the lie so she came to you with the diary. You reviewed it and determined there was nothing relevant to the cause of action against the President so you decided in you legal authority as Majority counsel not to pursue any charges." "Wow...what a load of crap." "It will keep Donna in the clear, won't it?" "Maybe." "Maybe?" I give him a skeptical look. "Probably." "Yeah. So start typing. When you're done I'll take it to Donna for her signature." "Say I do this...simply to protect Donna. She will never agree to sign it." "She will if it keeps her out of prison." "It didn't stop her last time. Josh, she'll never sign it." "She will if I tell her to." "Did you read her diary?" Cliff asks me and I give him a glare. "Of course not. She'd already been humiliated enough." "Anyone who did would know how much she loves you." My heart stops as Calley says this out loud to me. "She'll never sign it because it would ruin you. We have to find another way." "Such as?" I'm skeptical of anything this big mouthed Republican has to suggest but when he said `we' he did get my attention. "You know what, Josh? I'm not the only one who talks when they drink..." PART 3 My first order of business when I get back to the White House is to type my letter of resignation. Donna is meeting with Blake, so I don't have to deal with questions from her about where I've been and what I've been doing. Once my letter prints, I walk down to Leo's office and Margaret send me through. "What's this?" he asks as I hand him the letter. "My resignation." I say matter-of-factly. I don't say anything about Donna. I know what she told me, but I won't presume to speak for her with the COS. "It seems I can no longer work effectively for this administration so I think it would be best if I resigned." Also, if this thing with Amy blows up I want to be as far away from the White House as possible, but I don't say that either. "This wasn't personal, Josh. You shouldn't take it that way." Leo admonishes him. "Of course it's personal, sir. Due respect, I okayed this plan with you. We were on the same page. It backfired, big time, and I'm sorry about that, but it was a strategy I ran past you first. So frankly saying `No one wants you here.' and then asking me not to take it personally is a little much." Josh snapped at him. "The President isn't going to want to accept this." Leo waves the letter in the air. "I'm afraid he'll have to. He needs to get a budget passed and the stimulus package back on the floor. He can't afford this distraction right now." "Let's go talk to him." Leo suggests. He gives a quick knock on the door to the Oval. Josh follows him inside the office. "Leo...Josh...What have you got for me?" the President asks as he shuffles through papers. Leo indicates Josh should go ahead. "I have a resignation letter for you, sir." Josh tells him and Jed Bartlet looks up in surprise. "Pardon me?" he asks as he removes his glasses and stands up. Leo hands him the letter. "Josh, if this is all about Carrick, it will blow over. He hardly ever voted with us anyway. Other than being a big headache for CJ in the press room, this doesn't have a tangible impact on how we do business." The President informed him. "Due respect, sir, I don't believe it will blow over. Taking my portfolio and handing it, and the budget negotiations, to Angela Blake signals to everyone that I no longer have the ear or the trust of the President, which makes doing the job of DCOS impossible for me. You need to start fresh with someone else so you can get your agenda moving again." "Leo, will you give us the room, please?" Leo grimaces, but does as the President asks. "There seems to be a lot of tension between you two lately." "Yes, sir." Jed sighs as he realizes Josh is not going to expound on the tension and betray his boss and mentor even though they're currently at odds with one another. "Here's what I'd like to see happen, Josh. I will put this letter in my top drawer and leave it there for now. You take a couple personal days and then come see me again. If you still want me to accept this then, I will. Fair enough?" "Alright, sir. I can live with that." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\ ^^^^ Josh was quiet the rest of the day and that made Donna uncomfortable. There was something going on here besides Carrick, and it was big, but she couldn't figure out what it was. When he stopped by her desk at the end of the day, she jumped. He'd been quite stealthy in his approach. "Go home, Donna. It's late...I'm going to take a couple personal days at the request of the President. I know you have plenty saved up. Why don't you use a couple yourself?" "Personal days. Josh, is your Mom okay? Are you okay?" the alarm in her voice gets to him. "I'm fine. Just a little stressed. Take the time off and I'll see Thursday." Donna nods reluctantly as she watches her boss put his backpack over his shoulder and walk out on the building. His body screamed `I'm defeated' and worse he didn't seem to care. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Donna tossed and turned all night. She tried to sleep in and laze about, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Josh. Finally, at 10:30, she couldn't take it anymore and stopped to get bagels before going on to Josh's place. His car was there, so at least it wouldn't be a wasted trip. She got into the building as another tenant was leaving. She rapped 3 times quickly and opened the outer door with the key she still had. When she got inside, she saw Cliff Calley and Mike Casper at the table. When Josh walked back into the room, he noticed the tableau around him and froze. His eyes landed on Donna's and then quickly turned to his friends. "Hi, guys." She began tentatively. A chorus of `Hi, Donna's came back to her. "I brought some bagels over. I thought you might be hungry." Donna kept her attention on Josh. "It's funny. I watched the news and there was nothing on it about hell freezing over." "Hell freezing over?" Josh repeated numbly. "You have a Republican leader sitting at your table, so I assumed hell must have frozen over." She retorted and Mike laughed before he could stop himself. "So, what's going on? This isn't any poker game." It's the ultimate poker game, thought Josh, but he kept that to himself. "I needed some help on something, I-" the phone rang, saving him from an awkward explanation of the lies he was going to tell her. "Josh Lyman." He answered. "Yeah, now isn't a good time...Drinks at O'Malley's at 11...I know that Amy, but..." Donna couldn't catch anymore of the conversation as Josh took the cordless phone into the other room and shut the door. Donna ignored Mike for the time being. She knew from experience that the FBI agent would never roll over on Josh no matter how hare-brained the scheme might be, but Cliff... "Cliff. I'm surprised to see you here. Don't you have a job you should be doing?" "I can work from anywhere. How are you Donna?" "I'd be better if you'd tell me what you're scheming with my boss." "I think that's a discussion you should have with him." Cliff met her eyes levelly. "I think there are any number of discussions you should be having with him." "Don't." Donna shot a look at Mike whose head remained stubbornly fixated on the computer screen in front of him. "You have no right to bring any of that up." "I already did." Cliff admitted. He decided to push the envelope. "Amy Gardner knows." Donna sank to the chair with the weight of that announcement. "You son of a bitch." "It was an accident. I never meant to-" Cliff was interrupted by Josh's entrance. Josh took in Donna's pale appearance and became alarmed. "Donna? Here, have some water." he handed her his glass from the table. "What's wrong?" "Amy Gardner knows?" she asked Josh devastated. Josh threw Cliff a nasty look. "Just the overview, none of the details. Right?" Josh turned to Cliff for confirmation. "Like that makes a difference! This is what you were talking about yesterday? When you said you were considering leaving for the private sector?" Donna stood up. "I'm the one that has to resign; right now, today. I can't be anywhere near you or the White House when she leaks this story." "You two really are perfect for each other." Cliff announces. "Tell her about the affidavit you wanted me to put together." Cliff prompted. "Shut up Calley." "No, we had a bet. Donna, Josh wanted me to write an affidavit stating that you lied under oath on orders from him to protect him from word of his PTSD getting out. This idiot actually thought he'd get you to sign it to get yourself off the hook and leave him as the lone fall guy. If I had wasted my time writing that piece of garbage, would you have signed it?" "Not in a million years." Donna declared, her teary eyes never leaving Josh's. "Told you." Cliff said to Josh. "She has a vested interest in all this, and a rather large one at that. She deserves to hear it all, and hear it all from you. Mike and I will take a walk over to the coffee shop for some caffeine." Cliff motions to Mike and they leave Josh and Donna alone in the apartment. Mike grabbed Donna's hand for a quick squeeze as they left. "You ordered me to lie under oath to protect you? Are you kidding me? Were you drunk at the time you came up with that?" "It's what you did, isn't it?" Josh countered. "Yes, but not because you ordered me to. I did it because-" Donna stopped abruptly. Josh moved closer to her. "Why, Donna? Why did you do it?" "Why did you go to Cliff and make a deal for me...twice?!" "I asked you first." Josh countered. "What, are we five now?" "Answer the question!" "Because they would have crucified you in the press, because your political career would be over, because it was my words that would have ended everything you cared about!" "No, not everything I cared about. When you told me about the testimony and the diary, all I could think about was a way to fix it, to save you. I didn't think about why you lied about the diary or what might be in it that you wanted to protect. All I focused on was saving you." Tears spilled over Donna's face, but she didn't break eye contact with Josh. "When Cliff came to my apartment after the testimony and told me he'd seen my diary when he'd been in my apartment I wanted to die. I started to think about all that I'd written in the diary, and knew that if I gave it to him, I'd be ruining your life. I denied I had the diary over and over, but he didn't believe me." "I know." Josh pulled Donna into his arms and hugged her. "I know you did it to protect me. But why, Donna? We each risked Federal prison. Didn't it occur to you to ask yourself why?" "You're my boss; my best friend. You gave me a chance when nobody else would." "Cop out." Josh said quietly. "Why?" Donna studied Josh's face closely and summoned the courage to say the words out loud. "Because I loved you and it was written on every page of that damn book in one way or another." Josh smiled and leaned his forehead against Donna's. "Funny, that's exactly the same reason I tried to protect you from all this...twice." Donna looked up at him as he leaned closer to her and kissed her. It was a brief, intense kiss, summing up all that they had just confessed. "We're going to have to finish this intriguing conversation after we get rid of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. But for now we need their help putting this Genie back in the bottle." Donna smiled at his use of the word `we'. "I'll get some note cards and you can get me up to speed." Donna agreed. "Are we going to have to leave the White House?" "I handed in my resignation yesterday. The President asked me to take a couple personal days and reconsider." "And are we reconsidering it?" "I guess that depends on how this plan goes." He answered honestly. "Then we better do a good job." Donna replied. When Mike and Cliff returned a few minutes later, they found Josh and Donna hip to hip at the table working together seamlessly. All info in part 1: Summary: Amy finds out about Donna's lies to Congress and tries to blackmail Josh with it. PART 4 "We don't have that much time, guys." Josh argued again. "We don't need that much time. Will you leave this to the professional?" Mike replied "Sure. You know where we can find one?" "Josh..." Mike's warning tone made Josh back off a bit. "You can't be anywhere near this, Mike. If this blows up in my face..." "Our faces." Donna corrected. "Our faces" Josh repeated although he had no intention of letting either of them come with him to meet Amy. "Then you need to lose my number and be very far away. Plausible deniability, pal." "I am a fully trained, highly regarded agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We hide our involvement in bigger things than this before lunch every day." "See, I really didn't want to hear that." Cliff told them, shaking his head. "Could we possibly move away from this pissing contest and get on with making sure all our bases our covered?" Donna re-directed them. "All our bases are covered, Donna." Josh assured her. "Cautious optimism, Joshua." Donna replied. "I'm heading out." Cliff announced. "Good luck tonight." He added to Josh. "Thanks for your help, Cliff." Donna told him sincerely. "Since it started with me, it's only fair I help stop it. Take care, Donna." Cliff grabbed his things and moved toward the door. Josh walked him out. "This could backfire on you, too, you know." Said Josh. "Only if you let Donna down, and I don't think that's likely." Cliff replied. "Remember, you don't have the best poker face, so let the papers do the talking. She'll fold. She's too much of a player not to. Goodnight." Cliff let himself out. When Josh returned to the living room, Donna was on the phone ordering some food for them. Mike had his electronic toys spread across the table. He started to explain to Josh how they worked, but apparently they got too loud and Donna went in the other room to finish the order. "I'm telling you that I am not at all comfortable with your hand there, buddy." Josh complained to Mike as Mike tried to attach the mic and wires. "You don't exactly have a lot of options, here. Would you rather I get Donna to do it?" "Frankly, yes." Josh answered as Donna came back in the room. "Have Donna do what?" she asked suspiciously. "Get him wired." Mike replied and held up the electronics for Donna to take. "No, no, no. I'll end up electrocuting him, and I'll never hear the end of it." "You're stuck with me pal." Mike smiled and moved forward. "Fine, but just watch your hands this time." Josh allowed. "Would you two like to be alone?" Donna teased. "No, but when I get you alone, you can be sure that I'm going to make you pay for that comment." Josh responded and Donna's eyes widened. Mike stopped in the middle of what he was doing. "Joshua Lyman...I think you should just concentrate on the task at hand." Donna replied primly. "We'll deal with later...later." "Very eloquent, Ms. Moss." Josh knew he got to her with his comment and he knew it would distract her from this mess for a little while at least. He punctuated the whole thing with an eyebrow wiggle that made her laugh. "Okay, you remember what I told you about technical stuff, right?" Mike asked. "Probably not." Josh admitted. "You should write it down for him, Mike." Donna suggested. "That kind of defeats the purpose of being covert, doesn't it Donna?" Josh pointed out. "I don't think you're capable of `covert' Josh." "Children, enough!" Mike interrupted. "The earpiece will enable you to hear me give you instructions." "I don't need that." Josh told him. "You won't be anywhere near me to give me instructions. You can not go to this meeting." "You can not do this alone." Mike insisted. "If nothing else, I want to make sure you don't damage any of my valuable electronics." "Look, this is Amy, not the mafia. She's trying to use this information to control me, but I'm not in any kind of danger from her." "I'm not suggesting she'll try to knife you. I'm saying it is a rule in law enforcement to always have backup in case something unforeseen should occur." "It's overkill for this particular mission, 007. No one else shows their face at the bar, understood?" Josh looked first at Mike, who nodded reluctantly, than at Donna who nodded more resolutely. "I'm going to finish getting dressed in private. You two are freaking me out." Josh wasn't out of the room 10 seconds when Donna turned to Mike. "So what's our plan?....." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "I'm sorry, you're doing what? Cause on this end of the phone, it sounded like you said something about forged documents and blackmail." Sam repeated. "But you can defend me on those charges, right? I mean you're always telling me how you're a real lawyer and me, not so much." Josh teased. He was in an amazingly good mood considering the circumstances and he guessed that probably had a lot to do with the fact that he and Donna had admitted their feelings for each other. After years of holding it all in and trying to hide it, he felt positively liberated. "Are you drunk?" Sam asked. "High on life. I told Donna I loved her today." "Excuse me? Is this Josh Lyman? The caller ID says it is, but technology isn't all that reliable." "It is Joshua Lyman. Want me to prove it? Hmmmm.....Your middle name is Norman and you once tried to abolish the penny." "Okay. Then I don't believe you told Donna anything. Leo would kill you and CJ would feed you to the press corp." "Nope. None of that matters since I resigned this morning." "Jesus, Josh, would you slow down? Is this about Carrick? That's bullshit that they dropped it all on your doorstep." "Tell me about it, but as I said it's really not my problem anymore since I tendered my resignation." "Josh, for the love of GOD, will you please explain what is going on over there?" "It started quite awhile ago. Remember when Donna testified during the MS thing?" Sam grunted in the affirmative. "We ran into a little trouble..." Josh took a few minutes to give Sam the overview of what had transpired then and the ramifications of Amy finding out now. When he finished, there was silence on the other end of the line. "Sam? Are you there? Can you hear me?" "That's too crazy to be a made up story isn't it?" Sam said weakly. "I mean it never occurred to either of you nut jobs to come to me to help Donna walk it back and make everything nice and legal?" "I don't think I like you talking about Donna like that." Josh said all offended. "Please. It had to be your idea. Donna must have been too freaked out to think clearly and reign you back in." "Nice!" "So now, your solution is to compound your illegal activity with blackmail and forgery?" "Well if the blackmail works, we won't have to use the forgery." Josh could have sworn he heard Sam's head hitting a hard surface. "Don't worry, Sam. I got Mike Casper and Cliff Calley to help. Donna and I aren't doing this by ourselves anymore." "Oh, good. Then you'll have friends to share your cell with you....What do you need me to do?" "You're a good man, Sam. Here's what I'm thinking...." PART 5 A very nervous Joshua Lyman entered O'Malley's at 10:45. He had a lot riding on what happened here tonight. His plan was to arrive a little early, give himself time to order a drink and settle down his nerves. When he saw Amy was already there, his knees nearly buckled. But he had played this game long enough to know how to bluff, even though he couldn't seem to use that skill playing poker. "You're early." Amy noted. "That's a good sign." She moved over to give him room to sit next to her in the booth. Josh tried for casual, but settled for anxious. "We have a lot to talk about." He picked up the drink she had ordered for him. "So is Leo giving you the `opportunity' to resign?" "I gave my resignation to the President this morning. They want to wait until the budget deal is done before they announce it." This is the line they practiced earlier and it seemed to work since Amy nodded her head approvingly. "Good. Once that's done, we can make an announcement about starting our own consulting firm. There are plenty of deals to be brokered and money to be made." She picked up her drink and took a long sip. "That's what I hear." Josh said. "In fact, I had a long talk with Tandy about just that topic." Amy nearly spit out her drink. "Since when are you all buddy-buddy with John?" Amy demanded. "I don't jump into business with someone without doing my homework." "Too bad you don't take the same precautions with jumping into bed with someone." She smirked. "My mistake." Josh readily admitted. "But not a mistake I'll repeat." "So it's to be strictly business, is that what you're saying? Doesn't matter to me. I have other options. What I want is the clout that comes with the former Deputy Chief of Staff as a partner." "Let's be honest. It was always about the clout that came with the Deputy Chief of Staff. Do you think I don't know how you used our relationship to further your agenda? I didn't make a big deal out of it because that's how the game is played in this town and we were using each other, so who cares? But don't think for a moment that I was ignorant about what attracted you to me. It was all about politics." "We're being honest now? Fine. I'm tired of being a substitute for the assistant you wish you were screwing. I don't know what kind of brilliant political plan it was for you to fall on the sword when she committed perjury, but I know it will get me what I want because you will still do ANYTHING to protect her." "You got that much right. In fact, you may be understating it a bit...Before I agree to anything I need to make sure we understand each other. I become your partner in a consulting firm and in exchange, you promise to never reveal information you have about Donna's Congressional testimony. That's it, right?" "I want a 2 year partnership contract. After two years you are free to pursue whatever and whomever you like." "How generous. And you don't mind resorting to blackmail to get what you want?" "I prefer to think of it as power brokering." Amy took another drink. "Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to take you up on your generous offer of a partnership. I have other plans, and so do you." "Excuse me?" "You're about to accept a lucrative assignment in L.A. They need a Women's Issues Director in California and I think you're going to love it there. I know I'm going to love it that you're there." "And why the hell would I do that?" "Two reasons: 1) You've just been fired by the President of the United States. You're going to be radioactive around here for awhile. 2) If you don't take the job in L.A., this signed affidavit is going to make it to the authorities...." He whipped out the paper with a flourish and laid it in front of her. Her face screwed up in puzzlement as she scanned the document. She was quick and it only took her until the second paragraph to get the gist of the thing. Her face went from red to purple. "You sonofabitch!" Her hand went up to slap him, but he caught it mid-flight. "Yes. Yes, I am, particularly when someone tries to mess with Donna. So you'd do well to remember that going forward." He drops another letter on top of the first. "This is a copy of an affidavit given by Cliff Calley documenting his agreement to waive any perjury charges based on the cooperation of Donnatella Moss in voluntarily providing her diary for the Majority Counsel to review. Since there wasn't any incriminating evidence in the diary, and Donna came forward of her own volition, Mr. Calley is wiping the slate clean." "How convenient." "Just as convenient as your landing a plush position in LA within days of being fired by the leader of the free world." "He didn't fire me. I quit." "That's not how I heard it...or how I'll be telling it. Leave now, with your reputation mostly intact, or you can be facing charges by this time tomorrow." Josh hands her the last page he has for her. "This is your contact information. They're waiting to hear from you. If they don't have your acceptance by noon tomorrow, I'll be releasing these documents to the press." "You'd be willing to bring down a Democratic Congressman just to get me out of town?" "He's really not much of a Democrat or a Congressman, but I imagine he'll be more cooperative with the White House in the future. He may have a future in writing too. He puts great powerful sentences together: `After accepting donations from the Women's Leadership Coalition in exchange for key votes, it was deposited in Swiss account...'we'll just leave that part out for security reasons, `to which only Ms. Gardner and I had access.' Gee, Amy, that kind of sounds like bribery to me. My lawyer says misuse of PAC funds and evading Federal Income taxes as well." "But you're not going to report me, you're going to get me a job in California?" "A job as an issues Director where you will have no direct access to any funds. My lawyer is drafting the employment agreement. As long as you stay put and don't violate the terms of the agreement, this information goes into my safe deposit box and stays there." "What assurances do I have that you'll keep your word?" "Think about it. Why would I want to open that Pandora's box? It will be bad for me, Donna, the President, and the Democrats. We'll eventually be cleared, but it will be messy and generate more negative press for everyone involved; of course you'll be reading all about it from your cell, but..." "Look, this is how things are done in this town. Money is power and power is currency here. I needed it so I got it, as well as the policy agenda that was important to me. He got what he wanted; money in exchange for a vote and support by the women's organization Can you honestly say you work any differently?" "I bully, I threaten, I push and I trade, but the reason I can sleep at night is because I never crossed that line. Now what's it going to be, Amy? Call or fold?" "Hey, there you are Josh...Hi, Amy. I didn't know you were going to be here." Came the voice of Danny Concannon. "Donna just said Josh." "Donna said?" Josh repeated. "Yeah, when she called to set this up. She said you had an exclusive for me, but the sourcing had to be anonymous. What's up?" Danny replied Amy visibly jolted at the mention of Donna and a promised exclusive from Josh. Josh turned to her with raised eyebrows, inviting her to respond. There was a silent pause as they just stared at one another, neither blinking. Amy quickly folded up the papers in front of her and pushed them back towards Josh. In her experience, most reporters could read upside down. "Josh was just treating me to a drink to celebrate my new position, but I should get going now." Amy told Danny. "Goodnight, Amy. Congratulations on the new job." Danny offered seemingly oblivious to the tension at the table. Amy smirked and then turned to leave the bar. "Donna called you?" Josh asked again. "She seemed concerned about you, but now I wonder if she didn't just want to break up your evening with Amy." Danny teased. "There's nothing to break up." Josh told him as he watched Amy walk away. "I can't believe I got sucked in by that black widow...twice! Why didn't you ever warn me, by the way? You're supposed to be my friend." "I don't react well to spider bites." Danny mused. "It's been my experience that when a man gets involved with a woman like that, it's usually because he can't have the woman he really wants. It's never wise to get in the middle of that...Just, next time, try to choose your interim woman a little more carefully." "No." "No?" Danny repeated. "No. No more interim women. I gave the President my resignation this morning." To anyone else, the segue would have been too obscure, too subtle. But to Danny Concannon, who had watched his friend circle around Donna Moss for years, and had helped lob snow balls at her window last inauguration, it was perfectly clear. "Really?" "Really. I'm not wasting another moment of my life without Donna. The hell with the White House, the hell with Leo. Carrick was my screw up, but it also helped me re-evaluate my priorities. Donna is my priority from now on." "Good for you." Danny smiled sincerely at his friend. "Is she going to support you in the manner to which you've become accustomed?" "I have other employment options, thank you very much." Josh assured him. "So does this mean Donna calling me down here was a ruse for something else and there is no exclusive?" "No, it just means Donna was one step ahead of me as usual; anticipating the need for me have someone credible I can leak to." "Okay, what's up?" "What do you know about-" Josh was interrupted by the sound of Danny's pager going off. Danny glanced down at it, then back at Josh. "I've got to go. The President just shut down the Federal Government." Danny hurried out with Josh on his tail. "I'm coming too." PART 6 Josh found the rest of the senior staff in Leo's office where Angela Blake brought him up to speed on the events of the evening. Haffley had reneged on his deal with the President, the President got fed up and shut down the Government. No one knew what to do next without the President on board, and Leo was elected to go have a private chat with him. When Josh got back to his office, he found Donna and Mike Casper waiting for him. "Hey. Donna you have to go home. We're shut down." He said making eye contact with her. "I know. I'm just taking a few things with me. Call me with an update?" "As soon as I have one." He promised. Then Donna took his hand and pulled him close to her for a deep kiss. "Not that I'm complaining, but what's that for?" he asked keeping her close. "That's for making me your priority." She answered smartly. "Bye Mike." "Bye Donna." Josh turned an accusing look at his friend. "What?" Mike protested. "Like you're not afraid to say `no' to her? She insisted on listening to the live feed and since it concerns her too..." "Yeah, yeah. What's next?" Josh brushed over that fact. "Next I take the forged affidavit of John Tandy and burn it to ashes so it never sees the light of day again. Then I pay a visit to Congressman Tandy and convince him that based on the taped evidence you gathered tonight, that it's in his best interest to quietly resign." "I still think I should do that." Josh said shaking his head. "You should stay completely out of that." "I finish what I start." Mike replied. "Besides, I can be more subtle than you. I can threaten without threatening and without linking it back to you." "Okay then." Josh agreed. "Call me when you're done?" "You got it, but what if you're in with shutdown negotiations?" "I don't think that's going to be a problem. The President hasn't exactly been calling my number lately." By 3 AM, Leo told everyone to go home. Josh walked through his doorway and stopped in shock at the sight in his living room. Donna was sound asleep on the couch covered with a blanket from his bed. Despite the bad day, he smiled at how it was ending. He gently shook her awake. "Donnatella, what are you doing here?" he asked quietly. "I wanted to be here when you got home. Anything?" "Nope, Leo couldn't get the President down from the ledge. Leo finally sent me home after 3 hours of sitting and twiddling my thumbs in my office." "You weren't in the war room?" "I was not invited." Josh said as he lifted her head sat down on the couch and laid her head on his lap. He slowly started stroking her hair. "I'm thinking we sell all our belongings and move to Hawaii. I could work on local elections there and never have to wear a tie again." "Josh..." "You always said you wanted to go there." "Not like this. Josh, what are you going to do?" "I don't want to stay there anymore, Donna. Not like this. If I can't be of service to the president, if he doesn't value my input or advice anymore, it's time to leave. It could work for them too, they could blame the shutdown and the Carrick party switch on me and start fresh with a new face in the administration. You and I move to Hawaii and live happily ever after." "Josh..." "Can we just close our eyes and sleep for awhile. I can't remember the last time I could relax and sleep." Josh tipped his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. Soon, his hand running through her hair slowed, then completely stopped. Donna, unable to go back to sleep, just watched him. Once again, Josh had come to her rescue. Part 7 By the third day of the shutdown, Leo (with a little help from the First Lady) convinced the President to meet with his staff in the war room, and for the first time, Josh was asked to join them. "The President is going to be down here any minute, Josh, I need unanimity, this is the "come to Jesus" meeting." Said Leo Josh looks past Leo and sees the President's silhouette on the door. "Who's coming to Jesus, Leo, me or you?" President Bartlet asked. Everyone says "good morning, Mr. President" as Bartlet enters the room. "Three percent. 60 days." The President thinks out loud as he looks pensive. "Mr. President, it's a gift." Angela tells him. "Toby?" Bartlet asks his communication director. "People are frustrated with both parties. It's a plague on both our houses." Toby replies. "We gave it three days to turn in our favor, sir. It didn't." Leo suggests. "Josh?" The President finally turns to his DCOS. He looks at Leo, who looks back sternly, before answering. "What do you want, Mr. President?" Josh asked instead of answering. "I want to be able to govern." Bartlet answered emphatically. "Our bargaining position is weakening every day. There's a deal on the table, Repbulican leadership are in their conference room, waiting for our reply." Angela continues. "Let's go up to the Hill to see them." Josh suggests. "We can't go to the Hill. We'll look even more desperate." Leo contended. "The country's waiting for someone to step up. It should be us." Argued Josh. "Sir, if we go to Haffley's office it will set a dangerous precedent for future negotiations." Leo warned. The President smiled at Josh, "Let's go." It was the first step that turned the tide around and enabled the President to get his budget deal. When he did, the President hadn't forgotten who was responsible for it and kept Josh in the Oval after the others were excused. Josh watched as the President took out the resignation letter of a few days ago and set it on his desk. A lot of things had changed in that short time. Amy had signed the employment agreement and was heading to California. John Tandy had submitted his resignation to the Democratic leadership for `personal reasons' and Donna had, for all intents and purposes, moved in with Josh. Josh smiled at that thought and the President looked alarmed by his expression. "Tell me that grin is because you've re-thought this decision." "Sir, it's been an honor to serve you, but I don't think-" "Leo!" the President bellowed and Leo appeared from the other side of the door to his office. "Yes, sir." "He hasn't changed his mind. You said he'd change his mind. I hold you responsible for this." "Sir, there is nothing Josh has wanted more in his life than to work in the White House. He will give this careful consideration and rip up that offending piece of paper." Leo said as he gave Josh a glare. "That was true in the past, sir, but not anymore. If I work in the private sector, I can still effect change but I can work with whomever I want in whatever capacity I want." "What are you saying Josh?" The President inquired. "He's saying that he's become romantically involved with Donna. Aren't you Josh?" Leo postulated. Josh gaped at him a moment. "I received a letter just like that one from one Donnatella Moss this morning." Leo answered the question Josh asked with his eyes. "Is this true, Josh?" "Yes, it is sir, and I'm finally in a position to do something about it. I won't give that up, even for the opportunity to work for this administration. "Why would he need to give that up to serve this administration, Leo?" The President asked. "Because it would look very bad in the press for the Deputy Chief of Staff to be dating-" "Living with." Josh interjected and Leo shook his head. "Living with his senior assistant, who happens to be young and blonde. What could go wrong there?" "I thought the White House didn't comment on the personal lives of the staff?" The President noted. "It won't be the White House that will be commenting, Mr. President. It will be everyone else." "Has there been inappropriate behavior of some kind while they were working?" "Of course not, sir. Josh and Donna have too much respect for you and this building to-" "Then why shouldn't we let whatever tongues are going to wag, wag away while we continue working on the people's business?" The President suggested. "Excuse me sir, I appreciate the sentiment. But none of that negates the fact that I was told that no one wanted me here." Josh was very careful to avoid eye contact with Leo, but the President looked directly at his Chief of Staff after that comment. "Who would have ever said something as stupid as that?" The President asked facetiously. "Leo, find out who said that to Josh, and kick their ass to the curb." "Yes, sir." Leo answered, but then added sotto voice, "Although why you would pick that exact moment to listen to what I'm telling you when you never have before is beyond me!" Josh turned to Leo. "You hung me out to dry, and while I don't mind taking one for the team, this was a lot more than that and you know it." "It may have been a little...much, but I was getting hammered from all sides and-" "Enough." The President roared. "Josh, you ought to know by now, and if you don't I want to make it abundantly clear, that you are a highly valued member of this team. I don't want to do this without you. But I certainly don't want to do it with you and without Donna, so Leo's going to fix it. Aren't you Leo?" "Sir, I-" "We'll call it penance, Leo." The President continued over Leo's objection. "In the Catholic faith, Joshua, once someone has done penance, their sin is forgiven them. Got it?" "Yes, sir." Josh grinned first at the President and then at Leo who was grumbling under his breath. "So I can rip this up now?" he asked holding up Josh's letter of resignation. "Please." Josh responded. "And Donna's too, if you don't mind. I don't want to be doing this without her either." "Done. Now, I'm going to have dinner with the Prime Minister and his wife and you two are to take the rest of the evening off by Presidential decree." With a smile at how things turned out, President Bartlet gave the men a wave and hurried off to dinner before his wife filleted him and served him instead of the Queen's chicken. An awkward silence fell between the two men who had been like father and son for many years. "It really hurt, Leo, coming from you. Your opinion matters most to me in this building." Josh offered. "I couldn't stay here if I lost your respect." "I...overreacted. It's just the pressure in that chair, Josh, sometimes it's overwhelming and sometimes you take it out on the ones closest to you. You did good with the whole shutdown situation. You did really good. I'm...proud of how you handled it, how you handled the President." "Thanks, Leo." "Now I'm going to go `fix' whatever the hell you've stirred up with Donna and you work on a campaign to knock Carrick out of his seat next time around." Leo ordered. "Leo, I won't back down on this one. It's too important." "Good for you, son. Good for you." Leo said sincerely. "Don't let that change. She'll have to direct report to me from now on, but maybe we can take this opportunity to give her a little more responsibility around here. Take some of the knucklehead stuff off her desk." Leo said more to himself than Josh. "Go. I'm sure she's waiting for your report." Part 8 Josh didn't need to be told twice. He hurried back to his office where he found Donna making note cards at his desk. She looked up anxiously at his arrival. "What happened?" Donna asked as she got up from the desk and crossed to Josh. Josh carefully schooled his expression and shut his office doors. "I wish you'd told me you planned to give Leo your resignation." He began. "If you go, I go." She affirmed. "Not in this case. The President tore up my letter. Leo already sent yours to personnel." "What?!" Donna cried. "Why would he do a thing like that?" "Maybe because you didn't speak to me about it beforehand so I could caution him to wait until we had made a mutual decision." Josh lectured. "Joshua! Now what? You're staying on as DCOS and I'm being terminated?" "I think the PC term is voluntarily separated. Sound less like we've put out a hit on you...You're going to have to turn in your credentials by 10 tonight. If you want to stop in and have lunch with me tomorrow, I'll get you an appointment." "Joshua...an appointment? I set up your appointments. If I'm not here, who's going to do that for you?" "Leo said he'd find someone by tomorrow...don't worry. He checked with personnel and he thinks there might be a temp position you could fill until something else opens up, but they're going to need your resume and letters of reference right away." "Letters of- maybe I'll just take a walk down the hall and offer myself to the first unorganized idiot I run into. After all, it worked last time." She was getting all hot and Josh was having trouble keeping a straight face. Unfortunately for Josh, Donna caught the slight twitch in his cheek and used the considerably large folder in her hands to smack him upside the head. "That was just mean!" she tried to march out of his office but he put one hand on the door to prevent her opening it and the other hand he used to grab her arms and turn her around to face him. "The President specifically said he didn't want me doing this job if you weren't here to do yours, but Leo does think it's time to shift some of your responsibilities and you'll direct report to him for reviews and...wait for it...raises!" Josh finished triumphantly. "I no longer have to listen to any complaints about your paycheck. That may be the best part of this new deal." "Oh, it's the BEST part is it? Then maybe we should just concentrate on that happy news and forget about the other changes in our relationship." Donna countered. "When I said the BEST part, obviously I meant the best part of our professional relationship. A man would have to be a complete moron to have meant anything else." Josh hurriedly assured her. She relented a bit. "They understand we're together now, and Leo's fine with it?" "I don't know if I'd say `fine' but the President ordered him to fix things for us...something about penance, so everything is going to be fine at that end." "Still, they can't control the press. I'd better warn my parents what might be coming down the pike." Josh pulled her into a hug as she grimaced at that thought. "Don't worry. It'll all blow over once we're married." Josh told her and felt her stiffen in his arms. "Excuse me?" "Yeah, first I'll lull you into a false sense of security, then before you know it you'll be shackled to me for life. But that's a discussion for another day. The President has decreed that we take the night off and you better believe that's one order I will be following to the letter. Let's go home." He suggested and kissed her temple as he held her. "We can order pizza and watch CNN. The budget deal is all over the news." "Now you're talking...we got our budget deal, Haffley had to eat crow, and my woman is coming home early with me for pizza and CNN. All in all, not a bad day..." The End.