Title: Down the Rabbit Hole

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Timeline: 3rd Season, jumps AU after War Crimes

Rating: R for language and some adult themes, implied violence

Feedback: Encouraged

Disclaimer: I think they may be mine now, but I'm checking with my
lawyer.

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me." The Senator asked.

"Absolute Bullshit." Josh repeated.

"Mr. Lyman, please." The host interjected.

"Mr. Lyman really doesn't have anything of substance to refute
my arguments, so he's reduced to expletives." Senator Harmon
commented.

"The only substance Senator Harmon has in favor of his argument is
his loaded bank account from the special interest group that wants to
quash the bill." Josh retorted. "President Bartlet is far more
interested in what is in the best interests of the American people. And
he'll prove that 10 days from now when he signs Brigham's bill
into law as soon as it passes in the House and Senate."

"Just what are you accusing me of, Mr. Lyman?" The Senator
leaned forward.

"I'm accusing you of killing a bill that would help millions of
Americans because of the `contributions' you've received
from questionable individuals in special interest groups from your
district." Josh, too, leaned in and now he and Harmon were nose to
nose with a very nervous television host between them.

"How dare you..."

"Oh, it's not just me, Senator." Josh made the title sound
like an insult. "The Senate ethics committee will be requesting a
discussion with you very soon, but in the meantime, I am going to make
it my life's work to take you out of office and into an
interrogation room of an independent prosecutor. My life's
work." Josh repeated menacingly.

Harmon was a cool customer but Josh could see the beads of sweat pop out
on Harmon's upper lip and forehead. That was the trouble with
illegal activity; you could never be sure if you'd covered all your
tracks, and you could never know when you might get caught.

Josh knew he'd catch hell from Leo and the President for his little
tirade, but the guy was dirty. If Josh had...exaggerated his case a
little, it had simply been to see Harmon's reaction. Now that he
had, Josh was sure he was on the right track.

"And that's all we have time for this week." The
nerve-wracked substitute host of Capitol Beat broke in. "I'd
like to thank my guests, Senator Jeff Harmon, the Republican Senator
from Michigan, and Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman. Please tune in next
week when Mark Godfrey returns to host the next edition of Capitol
Beat."

The music came up and the lights went down, but Josh and Harmon still
hadn't moved a muscle. The substitute host quickly vacated his
position like a nervous patron in a saloon where two poker players had
just pulled their guns from their holsters.

"You are going to regret that, Lyman."

"I sincerely doubt that, Harmon." Josh simply leaned back in his
chair until Harmon got up and left; his entourage in tow.

**************************

"Leo wants to see you in his office, immediately." Donna
reported as soon as he walked through the door.

"I wonder what he could want." Josh mused sarcastically.

"It's puzzlement." Donna agreed. Josh checked her expression
but saw nothing there but humor. Things had been a little off with them
since their clandestine meeting with Cliff Calley, but maybe this
bantering was a sign that things were returning to normal; or at least
whatever passed for normal between them.

"You just had to shoot your mouth off didn't you?" She said
smirking.

"The man's a criminal Donna. What am I supposed to do sit across
from him and say nothing?"

"Preferably, yes. At least until you have proof of those charges,
or, he's, you know, indicted."

Josh said nothing about what his research had already turned up. One
couldn't work with Donna Moss for several years and not pick up a
few research pointers.

"So on the scale of `Josh Lyman on air temper tantrums', it
was pretty high up there, but not quite as bad as indicting God for tax
fraud." Donna concluded.

"I did not have a temper tantrum. It was an impassioned debate."

"I don't think your blood pressure can take much more
impassioned debating. You've been more impassioned than usual
lately, Josh."

"Right." Josh rolled his eyes and walked to Leo's office.

"Margaret? He wanted to see me. Is he with someone?"

"Yes, but he asked me to interrupt them when you arrived."
Margaret's words were innocuous enough, but her tone indicated
serious trouble for Josh.

"On a scale of 1-10?"

"Eleven." She deadpanned.

"Right." Josh bounced on the balls of his feet while he waited
for Leo to summon him. It took less than 30 seconds.

Leo's door opened and the transportation secretary exited, giving
Josh a sympathetic look.

Josh walked in and plopped down in the guest chair in front of Leo's
desk waiting for the scolding he knew was coming.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked concerned.

Josh blinked in surprise. This was not what he expected.
"Um....yeah." He answered carefully. Leo snapped his folder on
his desk and had Josh jumping.

"Then why the hell would you threaten a U.S. Senator with a criminal
investigation?"

"Because he's a crook?"

"And you have proof of that somewhere in your backpack?" Leo
demanded.

"Not proof as such..."

"Right. I forgot you were gone the day they taught evidence in law
school." Leo snapped. "Or how about innocent until proven
guilty? Does that little nugget ring a bell with you?"

"Vaguely." Josh replied.

"Don't be giving me any of you smart ass answers." Leo
shouted. "You wouldn't believe the screaming I've had to
endure since your impassioned plea on national television. The Democrats
are salivating over an ethics hearing I doubt will ever occur, and the
Republicans are rightfully incensed that the White House Deputy Chief of
Staff accused a ranking member of their party of ethics violations and
criminal misconduct."

"There's something there, Leo. I know it."

"Until you can prove it, shut your damn mouth." Leo ordered.
"You're going to issue an apology."

"Leo-"

"On second thought have Donna issue the apology on your behalf. I
don't trust you to handle that yourself."

"That's completely unfair." Josh complained.

"You have been surly, moody, and anxious for the last two weeks. If
there's a problem, handle it. If this is just you being you; stop
it." Leo instructed. "Get out and do a job that won't have
me receiving furious phone calls the rest of the day."

"Yes, sir." Josh said sarcastically and although Leo raised his
eyebrows at the tone, he made no further comment; just watched silently
as his Deputy left the office.

*****************************************

A week later the public apology was still grating on his nerves when
Josh ran into Harmon and his pack of wolves outside the Senate chamber.

Josh tried ignoring their approach as he lobbied Senator Stackhouse for
his vote; the Brigham health initiative bill was going to the floor in
two more days. Harmon, gloating a bit from the public apology made a
point of waiting until Josh was finished with Stackhouse before
approaching Josh.

Josh went out of his way to avoid the crowd, but it was to no avail.
"Thank your assistant for her lovely worded apology." Harmon
taunted. "Of course having worked for you all this time, she must
have had plenty of practice."

"Right." Josh agreed hoping to end this conversation and avoid
another lecture from Leo.

"How the mighty have fallen." Harmon continued. "Josh Lyman
is reduced to walking the hall to try to get votes for his bill."

"It's Senator Brigham's bill." Josh corrected. "And
I'd do more than walk the halls if it could shake a few votes loose
from the chokehold you and Medalliance seem to have over the
Senate." Josh rose to the bait, as Harmon imagined he would given
enough provocation.

"Medalliance has provided millions of people with quality health
care. After they're done explaining how detrimental your bill would
be to their constituents, Senators wisely agree to vote
`no'."

"Funny how their explanations always seem to come with checks that
have lots of zeroes written on them." Josh's voice was getting
louder. Howard Stackhouse continued walking away from the brewing
trouble; he opened the cell phone his oldest grandchild had programmed
for him and asked his assistant to connect him to Donna Moss in the
Deputy C.O.S. office.

"Are you accusing my fellow Senators of being bribed into their
`no' vote?" Harmon raised his voice too and a crowd was
generating around them.

"I'm just wondering whose interests you're serving, your
constituent's, or Medalliance's?" Josh tried to keep his
cool, but he could feel his heart rate increasing and his face flushing.

"Put up or shut up, Lyman." Harmon told him bluntly. "You
don't get to accuse me of wrongdoing just because you disagree with
my vote."

"No, but I can accuse you of wrongdoing when you trade votes for
campaign cash." Josh blasted.

"That's quite enough from you! Making accusations without any
merit, in front of my Senate colleagues? That's slander, Lyman.
I'd think someone who went to Yale would be cognizant of that
fact."

"I'll tell you what I'm cognizant of you piece of-" Josh
was interrupted by the distinctive ring of his cell phone. He had to
take two breaths before he could answer it.

"Josh Lyman." He ground out still keeping eye contact with
Harmon.

"The President needs you back here immediately." Donna lied
without a single qualm.

"What's going on?" he inquired and turned away from the
crowd while he began walking back to the White House.

"I'm not sure. I just got a phone call telling me to get you
back to your office immediately." That was true enough, Donna
thought to herself. Senator Stackhouse had been very insistent that she
get Josh back to his office at once. Something about a clash with Harmon
that was quickly going South. Ever since the Senator had found out that
it was Donna who had gotten the bill reopened for his Autism amendment,
he had made it a point to develop a relationship with her. He'd
called her personally to thank her for the vote and then subsequently
called her first whenever he had dealings with the White House. Donna
had been flattered by his friendship before. Today, she was grateful it
had spurred him to call her about Josh.

"I'll be right there." Josh snapped before hanging up.
Whatever was going on with Josh, he'd be back in his office shortly
and they could work through it.

Josh was clearly agitated when he entered his office. His face was still
red and his already active limbs seemed to be in overdrive. Donna took
all this in and tried to keep out of his way while she checked in with
him.

"How'd it go with Senator Stackhouse?' She asked lightly.

"I think he'll stay with us on this one, but I may send you for
the follow up. He likes you much better than me." Josh admitted but
still didn't sit or even take off his jacket.

"Well by that logic, I should do all your visits to the hill;
everyone there likes me much better than you."

Josh didn't smirk or even give her the dirty look she'd been
expecting. "What was so urgent? Does the President want me in the
Oval?"

"That...turned out to be a false alarm. Leo thought there was
going to be a thing and wanted you to come back to handle it, but
whatever it was must have gotten resolved."

"Son of a bitch!" Josh exclaimed. "I came all the way back
here for nothing?"

"Not nothing." Donna said in a calming voice. "You get to
see me, and since it's nearly lunch time, we could go down and get
some lunch. I have some questions about the notes you have on
Medalliance."

Josh continued to pace and didn't answer Donna. Donna's radar
was now screaming that something was wrong.

"You seem pretty upset, Josh. Did something happen on the Hill?"

"Damn Harmon and his attack dogs." Josh muttered. His desk phone
rang and Donna picked it up, afraid to let Josh answer it himself. It
was C.J. advising Donna to turn on MSNBC.

Donna picked up the remote control and turned the set to channel 31.

"...I think I'll just let my attorney speak to the unfounded
accusations the White House has made and used to smear my professional
reputation."

"Medalliance has made significant contributions to your campaign. Is
it unfair to ask if that has had an effect on your judgment on this
national health bill?" a reporter probed.

"Asking and accusing are two different things. If the White House
continues to send it's pit-bull, Josh Lyman, to slander sitting
Senators, President Bartlet is going to have extreme difficulty moving
any of his agenda through Congress."

"You and Mr. Lyman seem to have developed a particularly contentious
relationship. What seems to have set things off today?" another
reporter asked.

"A discussion about the health care bill. The man just doesn't
seem rational on this issue. It appears that he has some kind of
personal dog in this fight. Why is this bill sending the Deputy Chief of
Staff over the edge? Now I have the people's business to attend to.
Thanks for you time."

Donna muted the sound. Josh was still pacing and muttering.

"I tried to avoid him completely Donna. I swear; I agreed with him
and kept walking. HE followed ME."

"Have you eaten something today?"

"I'm not hungry!" Josh insisted. "Quit trying to be my
mother."

"Josh, you don't look good right now and you don't sound
very good. Please sit down. Grab a bottle of water from your frig. Have
you been taking your pills?" Josh was on a variety of blood pressure
and anti-anxiety medications since Rosslyn.

"Yes!" The vehemence of his response was enough to convince
Donna he was telling the truth. Besides, sometimes Josh forgot to take
his pills, but he'd never, to her knowledge, purposefully skipped
them or even resented having to take them. He just did.

"Okay." Donna soothed. "Please set your backpack down and
sit for a minute."

Josh complied. "Leo is going to have my head on a platter. He
specifically said-"

"I'm going to get you something to eat. Take a break from the
Brigham Bill and look at the notes I put together for the new teacher
standards." She instructed and was surprised to see him do as she
said.

Donna closed his door and put his phone line on Do Not Disturb. Donna
waived off C.J. who was on a march to Josh's office. She called the
First Lady's office and when she was through with that call, she
went to find Sam. He was deep in an argument with Toby about the
President's remarks on the Brigham Bill at a speech he was to give
that evening.

"Sam? Can I have a word with you?" she asked timidly. Toby
scowled but made no comment about her request or Sam's defection.

Once they were closed off in Sam's office, Donna spilled everything.

"You think it's the PTSD again?" Sam asked.

"It's something." Donna insisted. "He's not himself.
He's anxious and flies off the handle..." she broke off when she
saw Sam's smirk. "This isn't Josh telling the Speaker to
stick his legislative agenda up his ass. This is different."

Nobody could read Josh like Donna. Sam took that into consideration.
"What do you want me to do?"

"The First Lady is coming down shortly. Stay with him until she gets
there. I'm going to get him some food. He hasn't been eating
lately and he says he's having trouble sleeping. Distract him with
the teacher initiative. Ask him questions and-"

"I can handle distracting him." Sam interrupted. "Go get him
some food."

"Thanks Sam." Donna said sincerely.

Sam knocked softly on Josh's door, remembering that loud noises
could set things off for his friend when he was having an episode.

"Hey, have you got a minute?" Sam asked rhetorically.
"I'm putting together talking points for our surrogates on the
new teacher stuff and-"

"Donna sent you in here, didn't she?" Josh looked up wearily
at his friend. Sam noted the flushed skin and the bags under his eyes.
Donna was right. Something was off.

"You don't look so good, buddy." Sam leveled with him.

"Ha. I guarantee I look better than I feel." Josh laughed
humorlessly.

"Is it the PTSD?" Sam ventured carefully.

"Why is it than anytime I'm having a bad day, everybody jumps to
PTSD?!" Josh exclaimed and got up to pace again. Whoa! Sam literally
took a step back. Josh pulled out a bottle of water and nearly drained
it in one gulp.

"We're just worried about you, Josh." Sam said quietly.

Immediately, Josh deflated, and sat in one of the visitor chairs. All
the fight left him. What the hell? Sam wondered.

"I feel...off." Josh admitted quietly. "But it's NOT
like I felt at Christmas when Stanley came."

"Okay. Let's start there. Something is wrong. Maybe the
medication needs to be changed or the dosage. Maybe you're having
some new physical symptoms a doctor should check out."

"The Brigham vote goes to the floor in two days and I don't have
the votes yet. Look at my desk! I don't have time to go to the
doctor right now! Maybe after the vote." Josh relented when he saw
Sam's determined face.

A knock followed by a Secret Service agent seemed like perfect timing to
Sam; Josh rolled his eyes.

"Someone ordered a house call?" Abby Bartlet sing-songed.

"Not me." Josh replied.

"No, but you should have. Luckily you hired someone smarter than you
as your assistant. Take off you jacket and your shirt, Josh."

"Really, Mrs. B., I usually get dinner and drinks first." Josh
tried to joke.

"Your jacket and your shirt jackass, or I'll have Fred here help
and I guarantee you won't find that pleasant." Abby indicated
the Secret Service agent and Josh could have sworn the man smiled.
"Will you excuse us please gentlemen?" Abby asked her agent and
Sam to step out.

When Donna returned 10 minutes later, she found Josh sitting in his
visitor chair with his jacket off and his dress shirt unbuttoned. She
put his sandwich and soup in front of him and observed Abby's tense
body language.

"How's our patient doing, Dr. Bartlet?"

"His weight is down, is blood pressure is way up, and is heart rate
is erratic." Abby summarized.

"Hey, what happened to doctor/patient confidentiality?" Josh
protested.

"I'm not familiar with that concept, Joshua." Abby
countered.

"This is payback for the drinks and dinner comment, isn't
it?"

"Damn right it is." Abby agreed. "I just called in another
prescription. They should be delivering it shortly. I want you to
continue taking your regular meds; just add this one. It will help with
the blood pressure."

"Got it." Donna answered and Josh raised his eyebrows at her
answering for him.

"I'd also like you to go home and rest-"

"No way!" Josh protested. "We're on a deadline with the
vote and-"

"However, I will settle for you staying in your office provided you
put your feet up and eat the lunch Donna brought for you. This is
serious, Joshua." Abby made eye contact with until she felt he was
taking this as seriously as she was. Abby was very troubled by what she
was seeing with Josh. "Donna is going to be the enforcer. If you
don't follow my instructions to the letter she's making a call
to Fred here who will escort you out of the building."

Josh looked away from her but nodded.

"You're also going to see Dr. McIntosh first thing after the
vote." Abby dictated and Josh nodded again. "Fine. Eat your
lunch and get those votes. Too many Americans can't get access to
health care in this country."

Josh gave her a half-smile. "Yes, ma'am." Abby left with a
stern look in Donna's direction.

"You betrayed me Donna." Josh said wearily. "You went to the
First Lady of all people."

"And I would do it again in a heartbeat, Josh. Something is wrong
and you need some help."

"Medical or mental?" he asked dryly.

"I don't know, but whichever it is, we're taking care of it
now...together." Donna said firmly. Josh simply reached over and
took a bite of his sandwich.

***********************************************

"He won't let go of this, and he's starting to change
minds." Eggleton pointed out.

"There's a reason they call him a pit bull." Harmon replied
unconcerned.

"If this passes, there's going to be hell to pay. These people
don't mess around." Eggleton reminded him.

"I know who we're dealing with, Jack. I brought them to you,
didn't I? You'd never be in your Senate seat without their money
and their pull. How's that winter house in Fiji, Jack? The Swiss
accounts they set up for you?"

"Jesus, are they going to want all that back if Brigham's bill
passes?"

"I don't think they'll be collecting monetary
penalties." Harmon drawled. "You'd better get on the phone
with your caucus and make sure no one has hopped the fence. I dropped a
couple hints about Lyman's mental troubles in a few well placed
ears. They'll be broadcasting all about his delicate mental
condition and his PTSD by dinner. That should shore things up just
fine...."

**********************************************

Donna looked up as C.J. approached.

"I'm sorry I blew you off before but Josh couldn't handle
one more thing. His blood pressure and heart rate-"

"He's going to have to deal with one more thing." C.J.
replied.

"Senator Stackhouse stepped in before things completely blew. No one
is going to care what Harmon called Josh in the heat of the fight."

C.J. shook her head sadly. "Harmon I can spin, although I wish Josh
wouldn't give me quite so much to work with. This is something
else."

"What happened?"

"MSNBC is reporting that Josh has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder and is taking a variety of drugs as a result."

"Oh, God." Donna moaned. "Where did they get it?"

"They're claiming an anonymous source." C.J. told her.
"Can I go in now?" she indicated Josh's office.

"He's finishing up with a conference call. What's going to
happen now?"

"I want to talk to Josh first; give him a heads up. Then we'll
go see Leo."

"Then what?" Donna asked bluntly.

"I don't know." C.J. replied honestly. The light on
Josh's phone went out. "Give me 10 minutes, okay?" Donna
nodded as C.J. knocked and then entered Josh's office.

Not seconds later, Sam came to a screeching halt next to Donna's
desk.

"There's gonna be a thing." He said urgently.

"I know. C.J. is in telling him now. What happens next, Sam?"

"Under other circumstances we could probably deal but on top of the
M.S. disclosure...and with the critical vote riding on his
shoulders..." Sam stared hard at Josh's door like if he looked
long or hard enough he'd be able to see right through it.

"Shit." Donna responded.

"Yeah, shit." Sam agreed.



Josh went straight home after he and C.J. met with Leo even though it
was still pretty early. Donna didn't know if that was a good sign or
bad one. She kept her fingers crossed and offered up a prayer. He
didn't answer when she called, but she hoped that meant he was
getting some much needed rest.

When he walked in the next morning, he had some of his usual swagger in
his step that Donna took as an encouraging sign.

"Hey, you look much better this morning." She enthused.

"I feel much better, thank you." Josh replied. "And thanks
for calling Dr. Bartlet too. You always know just what I need."

Donna blushed slightly. "I'm just glad you're feeling
better. The pills Dr. Bartlet gave you must have made a difference."

"Yeah, I guess so, I'll have to..." Josh broke off as he
entered his office.

"What's wrong?"

"My pills are still on my desk. Didn't I bring them home last
night?" He wondered out loud.

"I was with Ed and Larry when you came back from your meeting with
C.J. and Leo. I don't know what you took with you." Donna noted.

"Now I'm really going to give Dr. B crap. I do better off the
medicine than I do on it!" he joked.

"Don't push your luck." Donna warned and got a bottle of
water from his frig. "Take them now before you start getting worse
again."

"Yes, Donnatella." Josh smiled and took the pills. It was nice
knowing how much she cared for him.

That was the last smile Josh had all day. Now, there were actual pages
of Josh' medical records and his emergency room visit floating
around the White House press pool. The fact that the E.R. doc had penned
the words `psych eval' as part of his notations did nothing to
improve matters.

Leo briefed the President on the latest regarding Josh's PTSD
disclosure.

"Harmon is using it to explain Josh's increased hostility of
late." Leo said.

"Abby thinks he's having physical symptoms that spell trouble.
She says with the drugs he's on, there's no way his blood
pressure should be able to get so high. This business is only going to
make it worse." Jed mused out loud.

Charlie came in and announced the arrival of C.J. and Josh.

"Good evening, Mr. President." Chorused from both of them.

"C.J., Josh...I'm terribly sorry about this." Jed
apologized immediately. "We're going to do everything in our
power to lessen the impact aren't we C.J.?"

"Yes, sir." C.J. agreed moments before Sam and Toby crashed the
party.

"I'm hearing pages of Josh's medical records are being
passed around the hill." Toby began. "Who's ass do I kick to
Timbuktu for this?"

"When we figure it out, you'll be the first to know." C.J.
answered.

"You're going to bench me, aren't you sir?" Josh asked
quietly.

"Josh, I think your health should be our main concern right
now." The President replied evenly.

"Right. It's all for my own good right?" Josh's voice
began to rise. "The fact that this personal little bombshell is
costing you votes has nothing to do with it, right?"

"Josh, if you have a coronary, that's not going to alter the
vote either." Sam argued. "Let me take you home. Maybe with some
rest, tomorrow will be-"

"Will I have a chance to resign or will that choice be out of my
hands too?" Josh ignored Sam completely. Jed blinked. It felt a lot
like it had that Christmas; not precisely the same, but enough matched
up to send shivers down the spines of Sam, Leo, and the President
who'd seen the first run.

"That's enough." Leo said firmly. "You can choose your
chauffeur, but you're leaving now."

Josh could hear his own labored breathing. He looked from face to face
and felt the walls closing in on him. "Donna will take me." He
insisted. He didn't trust these other people; but Donna, Donna owed
him for the diary thing, she would help him.

"Charlie!" Leo called and waited for the young man to come in.
"Ask Donna to gather Josh's things. He's going home sick and
needs her to drive."

"My meds are in the office." Josh noted.

"I'll have her get them." Charlie assured the group at
large. "Take care of yourself, man." He told Josh specifically.
Josh gave no reply.

*************************************

"Lyman got 8 votes back." Harmon announced to the man eating
dinner with him. His dinner companion seemed unconcerned.

"It won't matter. They've been dropping like flies since the
news of his mental problems leaked. Nobody wants to do business with a
lunatic. They'd already noticed his odd behavior; this will just
further cement their impression that he's out of it."

"But what if-" Harmon began.

"Relax. I told you it wasn't going to be an issue. The altered
medication he's been taking took care of act 1. Act 2 will have a
more dramatic finale. The great thing about being associated with
Medalliance is all the access one has to drugs. Starting tomorrow, Josh
Lyman will cease to be a thorn in our side. You have my word." His
companion assured him.

**************************************

Donna opened Josh's door. He walked in lethargically and crashed on
the couch.

"Maybe if I got a hold of Peterson..." he mused. Donna ignored
him while she poured him some water and handed him his pills which he
swallowed immediately.

"He could sway Jacobs and then-"

"You're not calling, you're not swaying." She decided
and took his cell phone away. She unplugged his wall phone too.

"You can't completely cut off my contact with the outside
world!" he protested.

"You still have the kitchen phone if you MUST make a 911 call or
something; I'll just turn the ringer down." She argued. "And
you've got your pager if they need you to come in and work the
vote."

"Donna, you don't understand. They're already this close to
firing me." Josh held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart.
"If I lose this vote too...it will be just the excuse they're
looking for."

"Josh, you're sick and overtired. Nobody is looking for an
excuse to get rid of you."

"They'll probably keep you. Toby could use you; or C.J. I
guess." He mused. His mental path was freaking her out.

"I've blown it for the last time." He said sadly. "And
with the PTSD all over the news, nobody in politics will ever hire me
again."

"You need some sleep. Do you want me to stay here for awhile?"
Donna offered.

"No. They're going to need your help. Votes will be flying out
the window thanks to me."

"Thanks to the bigots who shot you." Donna corrected. "I put
the sandwich in the frig. Call me if you need anything else. I won't
call you in case you're sleeping."

Josh made no reply just continued to stare at the ceiling from his
position lying on the couch. With some reservation, Donna left him to
rest. Abby assured her the pills she'd prescribed would help him
sleep too.

*******************************

The next thing Josh knew, his vibrating pager was waking him up.
Groggily he pulled it off his belt and tried to read the message.
`Meet Leo in your office." Shit. Leo finally called for his
help, and the pills he took made him too disoriented to actually help.
Josh shook his head, trying to clear his brain. He reached for his keys,
then though better of it and called a cab.

The cab ride made him feel a bit nauseous and he had to pause outside
the White House gate for a minute before he could walk inside. He must
have been more tipsy than he realized since he ran into two different
pedestrians despite the late hour.

He cleared security and went directly to his office. He pulled a cold
bottle of water from his frig and drank it down hoping it would help
negate the medicinal effects. He sat in his chair and reached for his
phone to let Margaret know he had arrived when another wave of nausea
hit him; he had to put his head down for a moment.

********************************

Donna decided she would wait until 8 to call Josh and check in with him.
That would give her an hour to get things rolling in the office and see
what Toby and Sam needed for the vote today; it was going to be close
but they had until 4:00 this afternoon to make it happen.

She let the switchboard know that Operations was up and running. She
flipped on her computer and hung up her coat. She picked up the phone
again and retrieved Josh's messages from overnight; grimacing that 3
of them were from his mother, Ruth Lyman. She'd call Ruth back first
and reassure her.

It took another five minutes to convince Ruth that Josh was at home with
the phone off the hook on Dr. Bartlet's orders. She prioritized and
printed up Josh's call sheet and went to place it on his desk.

She wasn't alarmed at first to see him asleep at his desk. She'd
found him like that on more than one occasion; but she was annoyed that
she'd ignored everyone and come back to the office at some point
during the night. She was about to drop some files on the desk to awaken
him in style when she noticed the empty liquor bottle. Looking closer
she saw it looked like the bottle of Scotch that Toby kept in his office
for particularly hard days, but she still wasn't alarmed. Leave it
to Josh to have a drunken pity party in his office and expect her to
clean it all up afterwards. Then she saw the empty pill
bottles...3...4...5 of them; she counted as she scanned his desk
and floor. Her heart stopped and she called for help.

She picked up the phone to dial 911 even as she checked him for
breathing and a pulse. She couldn't tell about the pulse, but she
though she felt his exhaled breath when she pulled his head up from the
desk. A couple early bird staffers responded to her call just as 911
answered.

"Get help!" she spoke to everyone simultaneously.

"What is your emergency Ma'am?" the 911 operator asked.

"I need an ambulance. Josh is unconscious."

"Is he breathing?"

"I can't...I think so, but I'm not sure."

"How long has he been unconscious?"

"I don't know. I just found him like this when I opened his
office door."

"Do you know what caused him to be unconscious?"

"I don't...there's alcohol and empty pill bottles."
Donna nearly choked on the words and was relieved to see E.M.T.'s
enter the office. "Please just send the ambulance right away. The
Deputy Chief of Staff's office at the White House."

"An ambulance will be there right away, Ma'am. Why don't you
stay on the line until it gets there." The operator suggested.

"That's okay the EMT's are here now." Donna replied and
quickly hung up the phone.

"His pupils are fixed." One of the technicians noted.
"I'm getting a thready pulse and decreased breath sounds;
particularly in the left lung."

"His lung was injured. So was his heart. He was shot. They'd
have his records at GW." Donna offered as Sam came careening around
the corner.

"Okay. We need you to move out of the office Ma'am so we can
help him. Please step out. Let's get him started on the
charcoal." Donna walked backwards until Sam caught her in his arms.

"What the hell happened?" Sam demanded.

"I thought he just fell asleep, then I thought he was just hungover;
then I saw the empty pill bottles. God, Sam, I should have never left
him alone last night." Sam held her closer as he watched the
technicians begin CPR and talk about pumping Josh's stomach before
negating it as being too dangerous while he was still unconscious.

"We'd better call Rachel before she sees this on the news."
Sam noted softly.

At his words, Donna started crying harder. "I just got off the phone
with her and told her he was at home sleeping. She thanked me for taking
such good care of him."

"It's not your fault, Donna. Try to calm down." Sam rubbed
her back then looked behind them at the crowd that had gathered.
"Everyone go back to your desks, please." The onlookers slowly
dispersed with whispered opinions about what might have happened.

Ron Butterfield sliced through the crowd. "What happened?"

Donna reviewed the events of last evening and this morning, but Ron did
nothing but give an occasional nod. When Donna had finished her recital,
he addressed the two agents who were with him.

"As soon as the medical team is through in there; seal the room, 24
hour watch."

"Yes, sir." The first agent replied.

At that moment, the ambulance crew arrived and took over. Within seconds
they had Josh off the floor, where the EMT's had been working on
him, and onto a stretcher hustling him back to the ambulance. Donna and
Sam were precluded from going with, so they jumped into Sam's car to
follow.

******************************

Leo arrived at GW only 20 minutes behind Sam and Donna.

"What do we know?" He demanded trying not to let his emotions
take control of him.

"Nothing yet." Sam answered throwing a concerned glance at Donna
who was staring out the window at nothing.

"There were pills?" Leo asked.

"4 different bottles." Sam replied.

"5." Donna corrected without looking over at them. "I
don't know if they were all his and what they were for. I didn't
get a close look at any of them, and the EMT's took them."

Leo moved over and put an arm around Donna's shoulder but she
shrugged it off. "I'm going to go get some coffee." She
whispered and quickly left the waiting room.

"The nurse said they won't be able to tell us anything for
awhile." Sam offered. "He's on life support while they try
to flush all the drugs out of his system. It's taking a pretty hard
toll on his heart which wasn't so good to begin with."

Leo nodded. "Has anyone talked to Ruth? I tried her on my way over
but I couldn't get an answer."

"I did. She's on her way here."

"I need to call the President to update him." Leo informed him.
Donna returned shortly with a cup of coffee but made no move to drink
it; she just returned to her post by the window.

It was another hour before the ER doc came out to talk to them.

"Are you Mr. Lyman's family?" the doctor asked.

"Yes." Donna lied without hesitation.

"I'm Dr. Erin Dardin. Mr. Lyman is critical but stable. He's
on life support because he's not breathing consistently on his own.
His left lung, that has been previously injured, is really struggling to
fight the drugs and keep inflating."

"Did you pump his stomach?" Donna asked.

"It's too dangerous when he's unconscious and has a
combination of drugs and alcohol in his system. If he were to vomit and
asphyxiate...We gave him activated charcoal to absorb the drugs still
in his digestive track. We're also using something called
Hemodialysis. That's a procedure where blood is circulated out of
the body, pumped through a dialysis machine, then reintroduced back into
the body with the drugs filtered out. My primary concern at present is
his heart. His heart rate is extremely erratic. Now, overdoses can wreak
havoc on a system, but with the drugs indicated on these bottles, (she
withdrew a plastic bag with 5 pill vials in it) we shouldn't be
seeing this type of symptom. Are any of you familiar with his drug
regimen?"

"I am." Donna volunteered and took the bag from the doctor.
"These 3 are ones he normally takes, but I've never seen the
other two." She handed the bag back.

"They all have Mr. Lyman's name on them and they were all issued
within the last week. Did any of you have any reason to believe Mr.
Lyman was unusually depressed or suicidal?"

Donna began crying softly, so Sam answered for them. "He was
behaving a little strangely and things were pretty stressful at work.
You should also know he's been diagnosed with PTSD."

"I have that in his case notes from his emergency room visit."
Dr. Dardin noted. "We're moving him upstairs. Once he's
settled in, you'll be able to take turns sitting with him."

"When will we know he's out of the woods?" Leo ventured.

"If he starts breathing independently that will be a huge sign.
Regaining consciousness would also be very encouraging. The problem is
threefold; 1) We have no idea how much alcohol he drank 2) We have no
idea how many pills he ingested 3) we have no idea how long ago he took
them. That's a lot of variables."

"Watching security tapes, we were able to determine he arrived back
at the White House gate at 12:23 am he went directly to his office from
there. Does that help?" Leo offered.

"Every little bit helps." Dr. Dardin agreed. "So we know the
overdose occurred between about 12:30 and 7 am, right?"

"I opened the office at 6:57." Donna confirmed. "I
didn't hear any noise from his office at all. I didn't even know
he was there."

Dr. Dardin put a hand on Donna's arm. "We're doing
everything we can for him. If we don't see some improvement in the
next 8 hours; we can talk about our options then."

Donna didn't know what she meant by options, but she knew she
didn't want to hear them either.



A/N: I want to thank Lisa (superblibbet) for some brainstorming about
this original idea. Her `wouldn't it be great if...' comments
got this off the ground.

A/N 2: To the Goddesses and Rogue Leader for endless editing and read
throughs. You are simply the best!

A/N 3: Thanks to Maria and Lori, who both caught that I gave Josh's
mom two different names in the last chapter; it's supposed to be
Ruth. All done with the notes now...

"Donna?" C.J. called quietly when she arrived in the waiting
room. The sense of d‚j… vu was very strong here. "What's
the latest?"

"He's still on life support and they've finished filtering
his blood. Now we just wait. His mom is in with him right now."

"How is SHE doing?"

"She pretty much fell apart." Donna responded tonelessly.

"Donna...I need to ask you about the 911 call...do you remember
making it?"

"C.J. what the hell?"

"The transcripts are showing that you mentioned alcohol and pills.
Is that accurate?"

"What is WRONG with you? Josh is in there fighting for his life,
again, and you-"

"I'm doing the only thing I can do to help him right now;
control the story so he still has a life to get back to." C.J.
snapped.

"Go spin somewhere else." Donna got up and left.

"Well that went well." C.J. said to Sam.

"Give her a break. I can't imagine what it was like to find him
this morning." Sam cautioned.

"Are you mad at me too?"

Sam let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not mad at anybody."

"Even Josh?"

"Even Josh. He wasn't himself lately; we all noticed something
was off but then he'd have a good day and we'd let it slide
again." Sam got up to pace when Ruth Lyman entered the waiting room.

"Where's Donna?" Ruth asked them both.

"She took a short walk." Sam answered. "Is Josh awake?"

"No, but his arms and legs are twitching a little. The nurse thought
it might be helpful to have us take turns talking to him." Ruth
replied.

"I'll go...if it's okay with you?" Sam offered and
Ruth smiled her thanks.

"C.J., I need to talk to you about your briefings." Ruth told
C.J., sitting next to her on a waiting room couch.

"Was there something in particular you wanted me to say? A Message
from the family?"

"Yes. I want you to thank everyone for their prayers and support.
Then I want you to tell them that no way in hell did my Joshua try to
kill himself."

"Mrs. Lyman, I think that because of the circumstances-"

"No way in hell, C.J. My son would never put me through that."
Ruth said determinedly. "You tell them that, do you understand
me?"

"Yes, ma'am." C.J. replied just as Donna wandered back. When
Donna saw Ruth she became alarmed.

"Josh?"

"Still unconscious, Donna. Sam's taking a turn with him." Ruth
told her and motioned for Donna to come sit with her. "I was just
explaining to C.J. that I want her to tell those people that Josh would
never try to kill himself."

Donna blinked. "I would never believe it either, Ruth, but I saw the
empty pill bottles for myself. Something was terribly wrong the last
couple weeks; especially the last day or so. I just don't know what
it was."

"Well, we're going to figure out what it was. There's
another explanation, Donna."

Donna nodded her agreement.

"I need to get back to the White House. I'll check back in later
tonight." C.J. told the women when she left. Donna took no notice of
C.J. and didn't say goodbye. The absence of any interaction did not
escape Ruth Lyman.

************************************

Donna didn't know what was worse; sitting in the waiting room
waiting for some word Josh was getting better, or waiting next to his
unconscious form waiting for Josh to get better.

"Josh?" She called to him for the umpteenth time. "Please
wake up now. We're all waiting for you to open your eyes. It's
going to be okay."

No response at all.

"Your mom is here, too. She's convinced you're going to wake
up any second now. You wouldn't be playing possum just to prove her
wrong, would you?" Donna asked.

Still no response.

"You have to wake up, Josh. Once I see your eyes, it will make me
feel so much better. You owe me that after scaring 10 years off my life
with this whole thing."

Donna closed her eyes and sat back in her chair holding Josh's hand
and stroking it with her fingers. At first, she thought the squeeze was
her imagination, but then she felt it again and she bolted upright;
watching his face for any sign of movement. There! His eyelids were
fluttering.

"Josh?" Donna said excitedly. "Open your eyes for me."

They fluttered again and he thrashed around a bit.

"Hold still, Josh. You're in the hospital and you're hooked
up to all sorts of things. Lie still and open your eyes." Donna
instructed and Josh's eyes squinted open. "Well, hello there
Joshua."

Donna smiled and ran to the door, ignoring the nurses and the rules.
"Ruth! Sam! Come quick, he's waking up!"

Needing no further prodding they ran into Josh's room and saw that
indeed Josh's eyes were slightly open.

Josh struggled against the breathing tube.

"Hold on. Don't try to talk yet." Donna told him. "You
have a tube in your throat to help you breath. I'm calling the
nurse." She said as she pressed the button for a nurse.

The nurse arrived very quickly and smiled at the now conscious form of
Josh Lyman.

"You're awake! That's wonderful." The nurse beamed at
Josh and then his circle of friends and family. "I'm guessing
you'd like to get rid of that breathing tube?" While she spoke
she removed the medical tape around his mouth that helped hold the tube
in place. "Okay, Mr. Lyman, this isn't going to feel great, but
I'm fast and that will help. I'm going to count to 3 and then I
want you to cough as hard as you can, understand?" Josh nodded
weakly. "One, two, three." The nurse counted and Josh coughed;
almost immediately the tube was out of his throat and Josh was coughing
in earnest.

The nurse held out a drinking glass with a straw and urged Josh to take
a sip. He tried to reach for the cup but his hands were shaking too
badly and the nurse had to hold the cup while guiding the straw to his
mouth.

"What happened?" Josh asked his voice raw and cracking. They all
exchanged looks with one another trying to decide what to say. Finally
the nurse broke the silence.

"What's the last thing you remember?" she asked.

"Got paged to the office. Was sitting at my desk; feeling really
sick."

"You don't remember anything after that?" Sam clarified.
Josh shook his head `no'. "Donna found you unconscious in
your office this morning."

"Blood pressure?" Josh asked, puzzled.

"That's not clear, right now." Donna interrupted.
"We're just very relieved you're awake and breathing on your
own."

"You really have to stop these major medical events. If you want me
to come visit, just call and say so." His mother teased gently,
tears sliding down her face.

"I want to go home." Josh said simply.

"They want to keep an eye on you for awhile." Sam responded.
"You've been very sick."

"I'll page Dr. Dardin. She'll be in to check on you
shortly." The nurse told Josh before she left hum.

"I'm going to go spread the word that you're awake to the
White House." Sam smiled reassuringly and left to make some calls.

"What aren't you telling me?" Josh asked the two women he
cared about most in the world.

Silence reigned in the room.

***********************

Jack Eggleton was pacing in Jeff Harmon's office when he got back
from lunch.

"What can I do for you Jack?"

"Josh Lyman is in critical condition at GW this morning. It's
all over the news; an apparent `suicide attempt'?"

"Well, you could really see that coming, couldn't you?"
Harmon replied. "He's been teetering on the edge for weeks."

"Tell me this...incident has nothing to do with Brigham's
bill." Jack Eggleton demanded.

"Of course it has something to do with the Brigham bill." Jeff
countered. "Lyman was spearheading the effort to pass it. When he
realized he wasn't going to be able to get it passed it pushed him
over the precarious edge he'd been straddling for the last few
weeks."

"Jeff, this isn't a game." Jack protested.

"No, it's not, and this isn't Monopoly money either. This
bill would cut Medalliance's profits by over $300 million dollars a
year." Jeff pointed out. "Lyman became a major obstacle in
killing the bill. It was Lyman as much as Brigham that managed to get it
out of committee. He had to be neutralized."

"Neutralized? Does using that word make you feel better about
associating with people who-"

"They're your associates too, Jack." Harmon reminded him.
"You may not be in as deep as I am, but that won't matter if
this bill passes and Medalliance wants to know just what they've
paid us all that money for; or this blows up in our faces and
indictments get handed out."

"What do you want from me?" Jack asked desperately.

"Exactly what you said you would do. Since Lyman's story broke,
they can't plug the holes fast enough in this bill. Talk to your
caucus; make sure they're all solidly on our side of the fence. Then
get yourself and our surrogates in front of any press you can find and
spin this our way." Jeff instructed.

Jack Eggleton paused, staring at his long time friend and associate,
then turned to follow his directions.

*******************************

"Mr. Lyman, I'm so glad to see you awake and breathing on your
own." Dr. Dardin proclaimed as she entered his room. "I'm
Dr. Dardin. I treated you when you arrived this morning."

"What time is it now?" Josh croaked.

"Nearly 4 in the afternoon." Dr. Dardin told him and Josh
frowned. "I'm going to ask you two ladies to excuse us for a
minute so I can give Mr. Lyman a quick check."

"Sure." Ruth replied, took the arm of the worried young woman
next to her and left her son in the hands of the doctor.

"Now, Mr. Lyman..."

"Josh." He corrected her.

"Josh." She repeated as she checked his pupils. "Tell me
what you remember about the last 24 hours."

"Not a lot. The last thing I remember was sitting at my desk in my
office." Josh said tiredly. "I was going to call Margaret to
tell her I made it in when I felt really sick to my stomach; I thought I
was going to throw up. I laid my head on the desk to try and stop the
dizziness and then I woke up here. Dr. Bartlet gave me some new
medication recently. Could this be side effects from that?"

"Hmmm....I doubt that. Do you remember taking any medication when
you got to your office?"

"No. My meds were all at home. Donna made sure I had them when I
went home because I had forgotten them the night before."

"Did you eat or drink anything when you got to the office?"

"I..." Josh struggled to remember. "Water. I think I got some
water out of my mini frig before I sat down at my desk. What's going
on? I asked mom and Donna and they just wanted to wait for you."

Dr. Dardin, having finished her cursory examination sat next to Josh and
put her arms on the bed rail. "When you were brought in this
morning, you weren't able to consistently breathe on your own, your
pulse was thready, and your heart beat erratic."

"Why? What's happening to make me so sick?"

"Your assistant reportedly found you unconscious at your desk
surrounded by empty pill bottles and an empty liquor bottle."

Josh instinctively shook his head `no'.

"You don't remember taking any medication or drinking any
alcohol at work last night?"

"I told you, my pills were all at home." Josh insisted. "And
I won't say I've never had a drink at the office, but I'd
never drink when the White House Chief of Staff called me in for an
important vote."

Dr. Dardin read the sincerity of her patient's words; not that she
couldn't be fooled, but she didn't think that was the case here.
Something about this whole situation was off.

"Nevertheless, you had a toxic amount of liquor and chemicals in
your system when you were brought in. If the overdose was
accidental-"

"Overdose?!' Josh's crackly voice got louder. "I
didn't overdose. If anything, I sometimes forget to take my pills;
Donna has to remind me about them."

"It's standard in these cases to have a psychological evaluation
performed." The doctor explained. "Someone will be down to see
you shortly. In the meantime, you need to rest. We've given you some
activated charcoal to absorb the chemicals in your system as well as
some medications that will help you get rid of the chemicals through
your digestive system. Be careful when you get up to use the restroom;
you're going to be pretty weak and shaky for awhile. Do you have any
questions for me right now Josh?"

Josh was still stuck on the words `psychological evaluation'.
"I've gone down the rabbit hole." He muttered. His strange
segue had her turning back to him.

"What did you say Josh?"

"Like Alice in Wonderland. She goes down the rabbit hole and
everything is turned upside down and inside out. None of this makes any
sense to me." he said looking at Dr. Dardin intently. "I did not
try to kill myself."

"Then we have a bit of a mystery to solve, don't we?" Josh
wasn't sure he believed that she believed him, but he did appreciate
the fact that she used the word `we'.

TBC



When Donna and Ruth came back in, they found a very subdued Josh staring
at the wall.

"Dr. Dardin said all your vitals are improving." Ruth beamed.

Josh looked over and locked eyes with Donna. "I didn't try to
kill myself."

Donna immediately started crying.

"Of course you didn't." Ruth agreed immediately taking his
hand in hers. Josh didn't break eye contact with Donna.

"I didn't try to kill myself, Donna."

"It's not your fault Josh. Clearly something is very wrong
and-" Donna defended him.

"Would you listen to me?!" Josh yelled. "I didn't try to
kill myself!"

"No, you listen." Donna shot back. "There were empty pill
bottles...all over...and I couldn't tell if you were
breathing...and-" Donna hiccupped from trying to cry and shout at
the same time.

"I don't know what happened. I don't remember anything after
I got in the office last night, but I do know I am not suicidal. I feel
more than a little crazy at the moment, but suicidal I am NOT!"

"Joshua calm down." His mother told him, but instead he started
to get up out of the bed to get closer to Donna who had backed away
slightly when he started yelling. His monitors were blipping crazily and
a nurse came in to see him attempting to stand and pulling on his IV
tube.

"Mr. Lyman, please get back in bed. You're too weak to stand
without assistance." The nurse ordered.

Josh ignored his mom and the nurse. "Donna, listen to me. I know
I've been...upset lately, but I could never do that to you. And my
mom? Donna, please believe me. Whatever happened ,I did not do
this."

"Mr. Lyman, I'm not going to tell you again. Get back into
bed!" the nurse repeated.

"Let me help you, Josh." Donna offered and stepped forward to
help him get back into bed. He acquiesced and let her help him. She
tucked him back into bed adjusting his blankets like it was of the
utmost importance. The nurse nodded at him and walked out past a tearful
Ruth Lyman. Josh took Donna's hand from where it was smoothing a
blanket and brought it to his face, forcing her to look at him again.

"Never, Donna." He vowed again.

"I believe you." She answered and both heard and felt his sigh
of relief.

"I don't know what happened, Donna. God, I was in the White
House!" Josh tipped his head back in frustration. "None of this
makes sense. I need to go back to the office; try to figure it all
out."

"That's not possible. You nearly died." His mother reminded
him.

"Mom, I didn't do this to myself; which means someone else did
it to me." He argued.

"Which means the last place you're going is back where they hurt
you in the first place." Ruth used her maternal `don't mess
with me' voice.

"Stop it." Donna interrupted their spat. "It's academic
anyway. Josh, they'd never release you under these conditions and
you have to know they'll be sending a psychologist in to do an
evaluation."

"That's what Dr. Dardin said." Josh admitted glumly. "If
I can't get out, you need to bring somebody in."

"Who?" Donna asked.

"Mike Casper."

***************************************

"Sir, the car is ready." Charlie told the President.

"Thanks Charlie. Let Leo know, will you?" Jed answered absently.
What the hell was happening around here? Between the close call with
Josh and the vote going down in flames; today had turned out to be a
real pisser. Leo walked in, still very subdued. Jed figured Leo's
state of mind should probably move up on his priority list.

"You ready to go?" Jed asked his old friend.

"Yes, sir."

Jed nodded and walked out with his usual entourage in tow. He didn't
say another word until they were nearly at GW.

"You don't need to do this with me. I can go in alone." Jed
assured him.

"No, sir. I should be there too." Leo replied.

"If you change your mind once we're in there-"

"Mr. President, please, enough." Leo implored him.

They went, without another word, on the path cleared by the Secret
Service. It wasn't until they were right outside his hospital room
that they ran into an obstruction. The only kind of obstruction that
could impede the President of the United States; Ruth Lyman.

"Mr. President." She greeted coolly. "Leo."

"Mrs. Lyman, we're all greatly relieved that Josh is out of the
woods." Jed offered.

"He's not." Ruth countered, forgoing the customary
`sir'. "He's not nearly out of the woods. Someone tried
to kill my son, President Bartlet; again, while he was working for you.
He won't be out of the woods until he's as far away from you
people as possible."

Jed Bartlet knew better than to mess with a mother protecting her son.
"We'll see if we can expedite that, Mrs. Lyman." Jed
answered carefully. He then continued into Josh's room where Donna
was sitting on the bed speaking to him in hushed tones. When she
realized they had arrived, she quickly stood up.

"Good evening, Mr. President, Leo" She acknowledged.

"Hello, Donna. Could we have the room please?" the President
asked respectfully. Donna threw a quick glance at Josh and receiving his
nod, left without another word. Jed took that time to study his Deputy
Chief of Staff; he looked like hell. His eyes were bloodshot and had
dark circles underneath them. He looked pale and shaken. Jed caught
himself before he shook his head at the young man.

"Josh. We're awfully glad to see you awake and alert." The
President began.

"Thank you sir." Josh said quietly, the strain on his vocal
cords evident in each word. "Donna told me we lost the vote."
Josh continued.

"That's the last thing you should be worried about, son."
Leo reluctantly joined the conversation.

"It's much easier to focus on how you're going to get me to
resign I imagine." Josh intoned watching for Leo's reaction; he
didn't miss the older man's wince.

"Josh, you need to focus on getting well, right now." Jed tried
to draw the man's anger toward him, but he refused to look away from
Leo.

"I think I need to focus on what happened to me." Josh replied
steadily.

Jed and Leo exchanged a telling glance.

"Ron Butterfield is heading one of the investigations; since
the...incident took place on Federal property, the F.B.I. is heading
their own investigation." Leo reported. "Now that you're
awake, I imagine they'll each want to talk with you."

"I imagine they will." Josh agreed. "Maybe one of them can
get to the bottom of this. Explain how this happened."

"I think your mom is anxious to have you go back home with her once
you're released." Leo added.

"Yeah, well that's not going to happen." Josh muttered.

"You've been through quite an ordeal, Josh. You're going to
need some time to recuperate and-"

"I need to find out who did this to me." Josh countered.

"Who did this to you?" Leo repeated. "Josh you were alone in
your office at the White House. Donna found pill bottles and
liquor-"

"I didn't take those pills." Josh explained. "All my
meds were at home."

"You weren't yourself. Obviously, you were dealing with more
than we realized." Leo continued.

"I didn't take those pills!" Josh nearly shouted.

"You don't REMEMBER taking the pills, that doesn't
mean-" Leo argued, but the President interrupted him; holding a hand
to Leo's chest to keep him from talking.

"I don't understand, Josh. The last we heard was that you
couldn't remember anything that happened after you got to your
office. Are you remembering that period of time now?" The President
asked gently and Josh could only shake his head `no'. "Then
how can you be sure you didn't take those pills?"

Josh sat up straighter and looked the President in the eye. "I
don't remember exactly what happened, but I wasn't suicidal. And
even if I WAS," he went on before Leo could interrupt him again,
"I would never have done it in my office where Donna would have
found me. In my darkest days, can you ever imagine that I'd do that
to Donna?"

Jed blinked and thought about that for a moment. Then he walked to the
door and motioned to the Secret Service agent.

"I want Ron Butterfield down here immediately." The President
ordered.

"Sir, he's not available right now. He's liaising with the
F.B.I." The agent replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure I didn't just hear you tell the
President of the United States that anyone was unavailable to him."
Leo interjected.

"No, sir, of course not." The agent responded immediately and
contacted Ron Butterfield. "He'll be right over, sir."

"Thank you." President Bartlet said sardonically.

"What are you thinking, sir?" Leo asked.

"I'm thinking I want the report directly from Ron and I want
Josh to hear it too." He answered simply.

There was a knock at the door and Donna came in. She threw a furtive
glance at the President.

"Josh, I made the call. He'll be over as soon as he can."

"Thanks, Donna." He held his hand out to her and she walked over
to take it in hers.

"You should try and rest until he gets here." She admonished
quietly.

"I can't. The head of the Secret Service will be here shortly
and I want to hear what he has to say." Donna's eyes widened at
that news.

"You and me both." She agreed.



A/N: This one got a little long, but I didn't want to break it up, so
just hang in there with me, okay?

Ron Butterfield was a reserved man by nature. He played his cards close
to the vest and tried very hard not to let his personal opinions of
people get in the way of his work. As he began his investigation into
Josh Lyman's apparent suicide attempt, he kept getting a niggling
feeling in his gut that something was wrong.

He sealed off the office to the Deputy Chief of Staff and went over
every corner of the room with his F.B.I. counterpart. If someone had
been watching him work, they would have seen him taking meticulous
notes, but rarely voicing any questions or opinions. Ron kept those to
himself.

His F.B.I. counterpart, Adam Sinclair, was a solid agent and a great
investigator. The problem was, in Ron's opinion, that the man
didn't know Josh Lyman. It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle where all
the individual pieces fit together perfectly, but when you were done,
the picture came out wrong. This was not the picture of Josh Lyman that
Ron Butterfield had come to know.

He was relieved to hear that Josh Lyman was out of the woods, but was
more concerned about what got him into the woods to begin with. He was
meeting again with Adam Sinclair when he got the request to brief the
President in Josh Lyman's hospital room. It wasn't Ron's
first choice of a briefing locations, but he thought he might get an
opportunity to ask Josh some questions and that alone would make his
trip worthwhile.

When Ron entered the hospital room he was surprised to see Donna Moss
and Leo McGarry seated along with the President in Josh's room.

"Good evening Mr. President." Ron greeted him.

"Ron, thanks for coming over right away. I'd like a briefing on
your investigation so far."

"Certainly, sir. Perhaps we should step out, sir?"

"No, we'll do it here." The President countered. Josh saw
Ron's gaze go to Donna and immediately reacted.

"She stays." Josh insisted.

"I can step out if-" Donna began.

"She stays." Josh repeated.

"Go ahead Ron." The President prompted him.

"Mr. President, Agent Sinclair and I spent the morning going over
every inch of Mr. Lyman's office and cataloging the items we found
there. Obviously, we haven't finished our investigation at present,
but I'd be glad to give you an overview of what we have so far."

"Please." President Bartlet encouraged him to proceed. Josh
took Donna's hand again.

"The empty bottle of Scotch in Mr. Lyman's office had only one
set of fingerprints on it; belonging to Mr. Lyman. Each pill vial in the
office was written off a stolen prescription pad of a local emergency
room doctor. The prescriptions were filled in person within the last few
days by a man matching Mr. Lyman's description. The only
fingerprints on the vials were Mr. Lyman's."

"Has all of this been verified by Agent Sinclair as well?"
President Bartlet asked.

"Yes, sir." Ron verified. "Security tapes show Mr. Lyman
entering the White House alone and proceeding to his office, which has
been verified by several witnesses. No incoming or outgoing calls were
made from his office. When the cleaning crew came through at 5 am, Mr.
Lyman's door was closed and locked."

"What aren't you telling us, Ron?" Leo asked.

"If I could, sir, I'd like to ask Mr. Lyman and Ms. Moss some
questions." Ron gave Leo a non-answer answer.

"Sure." Josh answered for himself.

"Mr. Lyman, why did you come back to the office last night?"

"Leo paged me to come back about the vote."

"I didn't-" Leo began but Ron cut him off.

"Was that unusual in any way?" Ron persisted.

"I guess he'd usually call first, but Donna had unplugged my
phone so I could get some rest. When Leo can't reach me by phone,
then my pager is the next step."

"Did you have any interaction with anyone before you reached the
White House?"

"No. Well, the cab driver, I guess." Josh replied trying to
focus on what he could remember. "I was pretty groggy and didn't
think I should drive. The cab dropped me off right outside the gate and
I went directly inside."

Ron nodded and made some notations in his notebook before he turned to
Donna. "Ms. Moss, when you entered Mr. Lyman's office this
morning, was the door to Mr. Lyman's office locked?"

"It was closed, but not locked."

"Did you pick anything up from the scene?"

Donna too, tried to pull her focus to the moment she walked in and saw
Josh this morning.

"The phone. I picked up the phone to call 911." Donna noted.

"Nothing else? It might not have been a conscious thing. Maybe you
picked up something to look at it more closely and got distracted with
the emergency tech's or the 911 operator?"

"No. I touched Josh, and I touched the phone; that's all."

"Ron?" The President asked again.

"Sir, there are several things that puzzle me about this
investigation, but unfortunately I haven't got the answers to all my
questions yet."

"Like what?" Josh asked.

"Why are Josh's prints the only one on the medicine vials?
Wouldn't the pharmacist have to touch the bottles to fill the
prescriptions? Why was Mr. Lyman's office locked at 5 am when the
cleaning crew came through but open for Ms. Moss when she came in at a
little before 7? We searched every inch of that room and Mr. Lyman's
clothing but two of the caps from the pill containers are missing. Where
are they? If Mr. Lyman took the pills himself, the caps would have to be
somewhere in his office or on his person; they're not."

"Agent Butterfield, you are my new best friend." Josh spoke
quietly.

"Then you're going to love this." Ron replied. "On the
way over here, Agent Sinclair called with the tox report. It seems
someone has been tampering with the drinks in your office frig as well
as your medication which we recovered from your home."

Josh could feel Donna's hand tighten on his.

"Well, this is sort of a good news/bad news situation then,
isn't it?" Donna asked.

"Yes, Ms. Moss, it is. The good news is that Mr. Lyman did not try
to kill himself, but the bad news is someone else surely did and went to
great lengths to make it look like a suicide." Ron let that sink in
for a second. "Given the extent of the tampering involved at several
locations, including the White House, we have to assume it isn't
just one person; we're looking at a conspiracy."

**********************************

Ruth Lyman paced impatiently outside her son's hospital room. Donna
had been in there a few minutes now and Ruth was tempted to demand
entrance as well, but she really didn't want to have to deal with
Leo McGarry right now. Her sense of betrayal by Leo was extensive and
deeply felt. They had known each other for decades and more importantly
he'd known her son for decades. She just couldn't look at the
man right now.

Just as she was thinking that thought, the man himself walked out of her
son's room. She turned away, physically rebuffing him and although
he stopped next to her a moment, he said nothing to her and eventually
moved on past her. The President exited next, but he stopped to talk to
her.

"Mrs. Lyman, again, I'm sorry you've been put through all of
this. We're going to see that Josh is kept safe now. You have my
word." He said sincerely and Ruth reluctantly nodded before she
hurriedly went in to see her son. Donna was looking very angry and her
son appeared rather dazed.

"Mrs. Lyman? I'm Ron Butterfield. I head the Secret Service
detail for the President." He held out a hand and Ruth automatically
took it in hers. "I've been investigating the incident involving
your son."

"Do you know who's responsible for this, Agent Butterfield?"
she asked him.

"Not yet, ma'am, but we're working on it round the clock in
conjunction with the F.B.I. We will get the answers, ma'am." At
that point another agent knocked on the door and announced the arrival
of Mike Casper and Sam Seaborn. At Ron's nod, they were allowed in.

"God, are you a sight for sore eyes." Sam exclaimed and embraced
his friend and Mike looked on smiling. When it was his turn to greet
Josh, Mike gently smacked him on the leg and reluctantly said he was
glad to see him.

"Agent Casper, we were just discussing options for keeping on eye on
the Deputy Chief of Staff. Perhaps you'd like to weigh in?"

"Sir, I think we need to keep any surveillance inconspicuous at
present. Our greatest advantage is won by pretending to believe Josh
tried to commit suicide."

"Why?" Donna demanded.

"Because as long as law enforcement believes Josh attempted suicide,
whoever tried to hurt him feels safe." Mike answered.

"So how do we keep Josh safe without tipping our hand?" Sam
asked next.

"In a suicide attempt, the individual is required to undergo a
routine psych evaluation followed by intense psychological care;
possibly in a self-contained environment." Ron said carefully.

"A psych ward?" Josh clarified.

"Essentially, yes." Ron confirmed.

"No, no. no." Josh shook his head.

"We're not talking about placing you on a psychological hold.
We're talking about giving the appearance of placing you on a
psychological hold." Ron assured him.

"Maybe you should just start at the beginning." Sam suggested.

Mike looked at Ron for permission to explain which Ron gave him.
"The idea is to give the impression that you're out of the way;
which is what the perpetrators obviously wanted to accomplish. The
President announces you are taking a medical leave of absence. In the
meantime we have an agent posing as a double for you moved to a medical
facility that provides mental health care. We keep your actual location
secret and under guard while we continue the investigation."

"Absolutely not." Ruth Lyman declared, speaking up for the first
time.

"Mrs. Lyman, I understand why you'd have reservations." Ron
began.

"Really? You understand? Good. Then you need to get someone
stationed outside his door immediately to make sure whoever tried this
doesn't try it again."

"We still don't know who did this or why. We need to buy a
little time here, and the safest way to do that is to make these people
think they've succeeded in eliminating your son from the
picture." Ron said succinctly.

"Josh, what do you think?" Donna asked him softly noting he had
closed his eyes and laid his head back on his pillow.

"Sorry, I stopped processing after he said psych ward." Josh
admitted to her.

"It could be a nice vacation for you." Donna joked and
accomplished her goal in making Josh smile.

"Mike, what do you think I should do?" Josh asked his long time
friend.

"You should listen to Agent Butterfield. He and my boss are all over
this; you couldn't have asked for a more thorough team. We need to
find someplace safe to drop you when we take your double to the mental
healthcare facility. Everyone has to believe that's where you're
staying for the time being."

"You're going to have to go through with a psych eval." Ron
told him. "You simply repeat that you don't remember anything
that happened after you got to your office."

"Which has the rare quality of being true." Josh surmised.

"The `evidence' along with the erratic behavior over the
past few weeks will be enough to place you on a psychological hold for
the time being. Obviously, that impression would be strengthened if Mrs.
Lyman added her weight to the commitment." Ron paused and waited for
the explosion from Mrs. Lyman.

"Mike," she turned to her son's friend. "This is the
best way to keep him safe?"

"I think it is, Mrs. Lyman." Mike said honestly. Ruth turned
back to her son.

"I've thought you should be committed ever since you got into
politics; I just didn't think I'd actually get the chance to do
it." She leaned down and kissed her son's cheek.

"It's just pretend, mom." Josh reminded her.

"Right." Ruth shared a look with Donna. "But we won't
have to pretend too hard will we Donna?"

Donna smiled for the first time in hours. "No, we won't."

*************************************

When Josh returned from his psychological evaluation, he found Donna
asleep in the chair next to his bed. His mom had gone back to his place
to get some sleep but Donna was still here. The nurse who had wheeled
him back to his room, offered to help him back into bed but he shook his
head and parked himself next to Donna until the nurse left. Once she was
gone, he gently shook her arm.

"Donna. Donnatella, wake up." When her eyes fluttered open he
told her, "You should go home and get some sleep. You didn't
need to stay until I got back."

"I wanted to make sure you made it back here okay." She
whispered; her hand reached out automatically to stroke his cheek.
"You must be exhausted."

"I slept most of the day." He replied.

"I was so scared, Josh." Donna admitted. "I couldn't
tell if you were breathing and I was so scared."

"I'm sorry." He said helplessly holding her head on his
shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I believed that filthy lie for a
minute." Donna said angrily. "I just saw the all the empty
bottles and I panicked."

"Who wouldn't in your position? You believed me when it counted,
before you had any evidence to support it."

"So did the President. So did Leo." Donna noted.

Josh laughed humorlessly. "Not right away. Not until..."

"Not until what?' Donna asked curiously.

"Not until I asked them if they could ever imagine a circumstance
where I'd put you in the position to find me." he admitted.

"Josh..." Donna was overwhelmed by his statement.

"I could never hurt you like that Donna."

"I know." Donna assured him. "I know that, Joshua. When I
think how close I came to losing you today..."

"You didn't." Josh reminded her.

"No, but it did make me realize something important." Donna said
quietly. "I don't think I could live without you in my life. I
know how badly I messed things up between us with Cliff..."

Josh tipped her chin up to look her directly in the eyes. "Donna,
don't. That's not important right now. None of that
matters."

"But even after I messed everything up, you still risked everything
to make a deal with Cliff." Donna protested.

"That's just what you do when you love someone, isn't
it?" he asked tentatively and Donna's heart stopped.
"Isn't that why you lied about the diary to begin with?"

"I guess it is." Donna bit her lip until Josh used his thumb to
smooth it out.

"I do love you, Donnatella." He whispered just before he closed
the gap between them and kissed her tenderly. She stopped just long
enough to return the endearment, but no longer, since Josh couldn't
seem to let go of her lips for that long.

"This is going to cause problems, isn't it?" Donna asked
when Josh made his way across her cheek to her ear.

"No more than being the center of two Federal investigations."
He quipped.

"Speaking of which; we came to some decisions while you were
gone." Donna admitted.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?' Josh asked dreading the
answer.

"That depends. How would you feel about hiding out at my place while
they continue the investigation?"

"Donna, that might put you in danger."

"Not if they think you're safely tucked away in a rubber
room." She countered. "We have it all worked out. With you in
the `mental health facility' I'd be way too broken up to
return to work leaving me free to stay at home and act as an
intermediary for Ron and Mike."

"I don't think it's safe, Donna."

"But the professionals do and I'll feel much better if
you're with me." she was willing to beg if necessary. She
wasn't letting Josh out of her sight for a very long time.
"Tomorrow, you're going to be transported to the mental health
facility-"

"Will you stop saying that?" Josh whined.

"You and your double will switch places in the van and once they
unload him...there...they'll bring you to my apartment. Your mom
is even going...there...to visit you." Donna explained.
"Mike is setting up surveillance in an apartment across the hall
from mine. We'll both be safe there."

"This is way too far down the rabbit hole for me." Josh admitted
raising his head to the ceiling.

"It's okay, Alice." Donna crooned. "I've been down
here before and I know the way out."

Josh looked back at her face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Donna confirmed and took the small risk of kissing him
again. Suddenly, his head popped up.

"Wait a second." He insisted. "I get to stay with you at
your place?" he asked with the familiar Lyman leer on his face
before it fell away. "There's no way Leo would approve of
that."

"He already did." Donna noted. "Your mom and I sort of made
it a condition of our cooperation."

"You are brilliant, Donnatella." He told her before he took her
mouth in another kiss.

"I think that's the exhaustion talking. You need to go to
bed." Donna told him regretfully.

"Only if you come with me." Josh replied. "I just want to
hold you while I sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, that's more than okay." Donna assured him as she
helped him into the hospital bed before joining him there. "Mike
wanted me to tell you that they have someone assigned to the nurses'
station keeping on eye on you. So close your eyes and sleep."

Josh merely nodded and continued to stroke Donna's hair until he
fell fast asleep.



Josh and Donna watched from the comfort of her living room couch as C.J.
took the podium and announced that the Deputy Chief of Staff was taking
a medical leave of absence.

"This is going to wreak havoc on my resume, you know." Josh
complained.

"Yes, and that's what you should be worried about now."
Donna responded. "Your mom looks good on TV." She noted as the
news switched to a tape of Ruth Lyman going to visit her son.

"This is going to drive me nuts; being locked up in here." Josh
whined. "It's like when I got out of the hospital after
Rosslyn."

"Except without the intense pain of a gunshot wound and nasty
physical therapy." Donna added.

"Yeah, without that." Josh agreed. "Everyone else gets to
play a role here; gets to help with the investigation and I have to sit
here and wait."

Donna's phone rang. After she listened for a minute, she hung it up
again. "Mike and Toby are on their way up." She told Josh. Josh
reluctantly got up and went into the kitchen; following procedure so
that he wasn't seen by anyone in the hallway when Donna opened the
door.

After he heard the door close and lock again, he walked back into the
living room.

"How are you doing?" Toby asked quietly.

"Tired, sore, and bored." Josh replied.

"Serves you right for touching my Scotch." Toby deadpanned and
Josh tried to smile, but failed. He hated that his friend's bottle
had been any part of this whole thing. Mike went for distraction.

"Hey, I've got something for you to look at." Mike told them
and slipped a tape into Donna's machine.

"You brought me a movie?" Josh joked.

"Not exactly. It's a copy of a surveillance tape." Within
seconds the screen filled with the image of the front gate of the White
House. It had obviously been cued up because Josh promptly appeared in
one corner. He was walking slowly and looked like he was drunk. After a
few steps, first one person ran into him, and then another. The second
person held onto him a moment, as it steadying him, then Josh continued
on his rocky journey into the White House and out of camera range.

"Do you remember bumping into those people?" Mike asked him.

"Yeah. I remember being surprised that there were people outside the
gate at that hour." Josh answered. "Why?"

"We don't think it was a random occurrence. If you watch it
closely...(he rewound the tape to play it again) it appears that the
first guy you bumped into pushed you right into the path of the second.
(Mike paused the tape at that point) And look at the second guy's
grip on you."

"He was steadying Josh so he wasn't knocked down." Donna
surmised.

"Maybe, but look at his grip." Mike directed. He then took Josh
in the same grasp as the anonymous man on the screen. "It's
awkward. Why take his hand like this? It would make more sense, be more
natural to steady him by the shoulder or even upper arm." Mike
demonstrated.

"Then why?" Josh cut to the chase.

"We think they got you with something outside the gate, before you
even made it in." Mike turned Josh's hand over and examined it
under the light of the living room lamp. Barely visible, was a tiny red
spot in the fatty tissue near his thumb.

"Son of a bitch." Josh whispered. "I didn't feel a
thing."

"No, because you were pretty messed up before you even got there.
They mixed you quite a cocktail in your meds, but it was important to
them that you enter the White House on your own power."

"That doesn't make sense. If someone wanted to hurt Josh, there
have to several hundred places where it would be easier to do it than
the White House." Toby objected.

"Yeah, but if you want to set up someone to make it look like they
committed suicide, what better place than the White House? Between
surveillance and security, it would be very difficult to arrange, making
the suicide look even more genuine." Mike countered.

"But why?" Josh asked. "That's an awful lot of time,
trouble, and effort to go to. Why?"

"That's what we're working on now and we need your help to
do it." Mike said frankly. "First, we need a list of people
you've pissed off recently."

"Do you have a D.C. phone book?" Toby responded. "We could
work alphabetically."

"Ha. Ha." Josh responded. "I can make up a list, Mike, but I
swear it's just been business as usual."

"That's next on the list. Donna, can you help us compile a list
of what Josh has been working on?" Mike asked her.

"Sure. How far back to you want me go?" She inquired.

"How far back did you notice Josh's behavior was off?" Mike
returned.

"Let's see, I started working for Josh in February, during the
Bartlet for America campaign..." Donna pretended to think back and
Josh smacked her on the shoulder.

"Donna!"

"It was just a joke." She assured him. She pulled out her
daytimer and looked back through it. "I noted Josh was acting
strange about 3 weeks ago."

"You keep notes on me in your daytimer?" Josh asked, trying to
look to see what was written, but Donna promptly shut it.

"Sometimes, yes. It's part of my job to look out for you."
Donna defended herself.

Josh smirked. "No, it's not, Donnatella." He said quietly.

"It is now." She replied and her lips twitched.

"Yeah, it is now." He agreed. Toby and Mike watched the
proceedings with interest, knowing something significant was being said
here but not quite sure what.

"Okay, then, why don't you start back 6 weeks ago and give me
list of what Josh has been working on since." Mike instructed Donna
who nodded and opened her lap top.

"You really think this is something he's been working on?"
Toby asked Mike.

"It makes the most sense." Mike told them. "The people who
did this had something to gain by removing Josh from the equation;
something big politically or monetarily; maybe both. We need to figure
out what."

They worked for the next 2 hours with lists and theories. Josh's
head was literally pounding, especially when he saw news clips about
himself on the television, so Donna finally unplugged the thing.

"Tell me about this appropriations bill." Mike requested for the
2nd time.

"Jesus, Mike, you work in this city, you liaise with the White House
every week. How can you not know what this shit is?" Josh exploded.
Donna moved to intervene but Mike stopped her.

"And your office liaises with mine every week. You want to tell me
about any of our investigations?" Mike responded calmly.

"I know you aren't looking into Harmon's finances like I
told you to." Josh replied.

"As a matter of fact we are; smartass." Mike said shortly.
"These things take time and finesse, you know."

"Then they should really move you into another department,
shouldn't they?" Josh shot back.

"Enough!" Donna shouted and gave them each a nasty glare.
"Everyone is doing their best on little sleep and a lot of tension.
Back off; both of you." She looked over at Toby who was giving her
an amused look. "Do you have something to add Mr. Ziegler?"

"Hell yes; they're both idiots. This has nothing to do with
appropriations."

"Appropriations makes up huge dollar amounts Toby." Josh argued.

"Yes, but they're decided in committee and taking you out of
that picture isn't going to change things significantly."

"True." Josh acknowledged.

"Good, we can take that off the table, then." Mike crossed it
off their list. "What about the Brigham bill?"

"It crashed and burned." Josh said glumly. "There's
nothing there."

"It crashed and burned after you got hurt." Donna corrected.
"Until then, you were gaining some momentum on it."

"It was a very large, uphill battle." Josh told Mike. "There
was huge PAC money on the other side."

"What was it, healthcare something?" Mike clarified.

"The bill would have provided government funded healthcare to all
children under 6." Josh recited, bored and depressed by the topic.
It was just another failure in his book.

"Then who was on the other side?" Mike asked.

"Harmon, and to some extent Eggleston in the Senate. Chambers,
DeWilda, and Severson spearheaded against it in the house." Josh
replied.

"No, I mean the PAC's. Who funded them?"

"A variety of HMO's." Toby replied. "None of them wanted
it. The six and under demographic is huge for HMO's; well checks,
immunizations, and all the colds and ear infections mean huge
pharmaceutical profits alone for these people."

"Medalliance." Donna noted and all three men turned to look at
her. "They were throwing money everywhere against this bill and Josh
mentioned them repeatedly when he was fighting Harmon and Severson on
the national news shows."

She pulled out her daytimer again. "All this began 2 weeks after he
did the symposium railing against HMO's in general and Medalliance
in particular." She pointed out the relevant dates on her calendar.

"You were making headway on the bill at that point?" Mike
inquired.

"I guess." Josh replied.

"Come on, Josh. This stuff is life blood to you; you know if you
were making headway or not at that point. Work with me here."

"Public opinion was swaying in our direction, but the PAC's were
pouring serious money into ad buys." Josh thought back, then looked
at Donna's daytimer to help refresh his memory. "I was booked
solid that next week. A lot of voters are fed up with privatized
insurance."

"So you took point on that bill?"

"I take point on most of the bills that go to Congress, Mike."
Josh got exasperated. "I piss a lot of people off and bully my way
through a lot of meetings, but as far as I know I've never driven
anyone to attempted murder."

"What I mean is; you were the face of that bill, right? To discredit
you, would have been to discredit the bill. Isn't that what you do
all the time? Someone is sponsoring a bill you don't like, you go
after them and take them out?"

"Not literally!" Josh protested.

"I know that." Mike explained. "I mean metaphorically.
That's a D.C. strategy right?"

"Yeah." Toby agreed.

Mike pulled out his secure cell and made a call. "I'm going back
to the office and dig around on this a little more. I think the stakes
and the timing make it a good prospect. Toby, I'll give you a ride
back?"

"Yeah, thanks." Toby got up slowly, still considering what Mike
had said. "You know, if it does have something to do with this bill,
I don't think whoever is involved is going to feel okay about
leaving the job half done." He looked carefully at Josh and Donna.

"No one gets in this building that we don't have an eye on. No
one gets near this apartment or even on this floor without our say so.
We have agents stationed around the building and across the hall.
Everyone is safe here." Mike assured them all.

"Yeah, that's what I thought about the White House too."
Toby left on that note, Mike right behind him.

"Toby's just a ray of sunshine isn't he?" Josh remarked.
"Maybe he's right though. Maybe I should leave."

"He's not right about that." Donna disputed. "I trust
Mike and I trust Ron Butterfield. We're okay here."

Josh didn't look convinced. Donna moved closer to him. "Why
don't I heat something up for you to eat? You didn't eat much
earlier. Is your stomach still so sore?"

"You know, Donnatella, if you're going to fall back on
misdirection, there are a lot better ways of employing that
technique." Josh teased her.

"Such as?"

"Such as..." Josh leaned into her and gently kissed her lips.

"That's distracting alright." Donna agreed. "So
you'll stay?" she asked while she ran her hands up his arms to
his shoulders. She batted her blue eyes and employed the pout that had
always worked on Josh Lyman in the past.

"For now." Josh agreed. "But if anything changes and Mike
doesn't think it's safe here anymore..."

"That's not going to happen." Donna insisted.



"Everything is fine. The West Wing is in disarray. They have no
message because they have no messenger. Bartlet hasn't even made the
standard `we wish Josh Lyman a speedy recovery speech'.
That's how much they're distancing themselves from Lyman and
everything he touched."

"Yes, but my office is being flooded with questions and my Chief of
Staff says someone is digging around my finances."

"Harmon, this is exactly what you said you wanted; major publicity
for taking Lyman down and plenty of coin for the campaign coffers. Of
course people are looking into your finances, you're going into an
election year. You haven't got unmarked bills wrapped in tinfoil in
your freezer have you?"

"No," Harmon replied tersely.

"Of course you don't. You're not that stupid and neither am
I. We have, each of us, covered our tracks very well. Go about your
business as usual; I'm looking forward to your interview with Lauer
tomorrow."

Harmon paused, wanting to couch his words carefully. "I'll go
ahead with the Lauer interview tomorrow because it would look strange if
I cancelled at the last minute, but then I think it would be wise to put
another face up front on this; for both our sakes."

"Jeff, are you saying you want out of our partnership? Because we
made it very clear from the beginning that this was a long term
commitment."

"I know that. I just think that more harm than good could come from
my repeatedly pushing this issue when the bill is dead and Lyman is out
of the picture. I'm not looking to get out, just to lessen my
visibility right now before too many people draw lines we'd rather
not have drawn." Harmon reasoned.

"If you don't want lines drawn, you'd better be careful what
you say and where you step. If you want out; simply say so. We can
release you from your commitment. There are more than a few people
who'd be happy to replace you on our team."

"That's not necessary." Harmon assured him; concerned now
about how people were `released' from their commitment.

"Good."

****************************************

"I brought your notes and files on the Brigham vote and the
committee fight on gays in the military." Sam announced when he came
into Donna's kitchen the next morning.

"What took you so long?" Josh complained.

"I had to get clearance through Ron Butterfield. Your office is
still locked up as a crime scene." Sam explained.

"Terrific." Josh replied and began sorting through papers. Sam
threw Donna a look that asked if he'd been this bitchy all morning.
Donna nodded.

"I think it's the drugs still working their way through his
system." Donna said out loud.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about me like I
wasn't here." Josh's voice rose.

"And I'd appreciate it if you didn't bite my head off when
I'm trying to help you." Sam intervened, taking the hit that was
meant for Donna.

"Yeah...sorry." Josh managed.

"Since Sam is here. I'm going to make quick store run. Do you
want anything?" she addressed both men.

"I'm good." Sam noted.

"Me too." Josh added. Donna smiled at Sam and came to stand next
to Josh. "I'll be back shortly." She told him, pausing to
kiss him quickly.

"Don't leave the building without an agent." Josh
instructed.

"He's already waiting for me downstairs." She called over
her shoulder and closed the front door behind her.

Sam waited a few seconds for Josh to comment, but he simply went back to
studying the papers Sam had brought to him.

"Uh...anything you'd like to tell me, Josh? Any major changes
in your life?" Sam hinted but Josh didn't look up.

"You mean besides someone trying to kill me and make it look like a
suicide?"

"Yeah, besides that." Sam confirmed.

"None that I can think of." Josh replied. Sam gave that a beat.

"It's just that Donna kissing you goodbye hasn't been a part
of our normal daily routine."

Josh continued to read; occasionally marking something with his
highlighter.

"Would you prefer that I go?" Sam asked, fed up with Josh's
childishness.

"Do whatever you like. You can't stay too long though. It would
be suspicious."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Josh exploded. "Someone
tried to kill me Sam; on purpose, not by accident like at Rosslyn, on
purpose! And no one can tell me why. Just being here puts Donna in
danger, but I have nowhere else to go. My mother is visiting some FBI
agent pretending to be me in a mental facility. Everyone I know and work
with thinks I'm mentally deranged!"

Sam waited while Josh caught his breath from his tirade.

"Yeah, but now you're kissing Donna, and everyone questioned
your mentally stability way before this." Sam replied with a
straight face. It was exactly the response Josh needed at that moment to
release all the tension that had built up inside him. He threw back his
head and laughed.

"God, Sam." Josh drew in a wheezing breath. "Where the hell do
you come up with those lines?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should think about speech writing,
huh?" Sam took a seat at the table next to his friend. "You and
Donna?"

"Yeah..." Josh answered carefully. "How much of a problem do
you think that's going to be?"

"Compared to attempted murder and Governmental conspiracies? Not
much of a problem at all." Sam replied. "Don't worry about
it."

"If leo-" Josh started.

"Don't worry about it." Sam repeated. "You both deserve
a little happiness if you ask me. So all that date sabotaging..."

"Yeah, I guess I should have realized there was more to it than not
liking her dates."

"I guess...Can you tell me what you're working on?" Sam
motioned at the papers spread out on the table. Josh blew out another
breath.

"I can try. I swear, Sam, my brain just isn't running on all
cylinders right now."

"It's been through a lot in the last few weeks. Mike said the
drugs they had coursing through you were pretty potent. It may take a
little while to clear everything out."

"I don't have that much patience, Sam."

"No...Josh Lyman, impatient?" Sam deadpanned. "Show me
what you've got. Maybe talking it out will help."

"We ran a list of things I was working on during the time in
question. After weeding out several items we've narrowed it down to
these two; the bill over gay rights and the early childhood universal
health bill. They both work timewise, both high profile issues that are
deeply divisive, and both have heavy monetary and political
ramifications."

"So the idea is that someone involved in one of these issues wanted
you out of the way, discredited, or both, to get their way?"

"That's the theory."

"There's more money in the Universal healthcare bill, but the
gay rights issue is hotter politically and socially." Sam noted.
"Harmon is still shooting his mouth off. Did you see him this
morning on the Today show?"

"Donna's unplugged the TV and hid the remote."

"She does take care of you, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does." Josh agreed.

***************************

Donna rapped on her own door twice, which was the signal to Josh to step
out of view when she opened the door. It wasn't a problem in this
instance, since Josh and Sam were still in the kitchen weighing the pros
and cons of each theory.

Sam didn't miss how Josh's eyes lit up when Donna came in
though; or how her eyes carefully scanned Josh to take inventory as she
returned. They didn't have time for a greeting, however, before Ruth
Lyman stepped out from behind Donna.

"Mom." Josh got up and took his mother in a hug.

"You're looking better." She murmured and hugged him back.

"Donna's taking good care of me."

"She always has." Ruth replied winking at the woman in question.

"It looks like you two have been busy." Donna looked at the mess
in her kitchen.

"We have, but now I need to get back to the White House." Sam
proclaimed rising. "If I come up with anything more, I'll call
Donna with it." He told Josh, who nodded agreement.

"This place is a mess." Donna announced after he'd left. She
moved to stand behind Josh and put a hand on his shoulder. "Why
don't you take your mom into the living room while I make us some
coffee?"

"She might want to watch some television." Josh suggested.
"She likes to keep up on the news and world events."

"Uh-huh." Donna drawled. Wise to him, but willing to let him win
this battle, she took the TV remote out of her purse and handed it to
him. "I trust you can handle plugging it back in?"

"I'll do my best." He smirked and took his mother's hand
to lead her into the living room.

After letting Josh reconnect the television and turn on the news. Ruth
broached the topic she'd been working herself up for all morning.

"Joshua. I've decided to go back home tomorrow." She paused
when he looked over at her. "It would mean everything to me if you
came home with me."

"Mom, I-"

"Just think about it. You can't accomplish anything holed up
here. Even if they solve this case tomorrow, I don't know how they
can put you back in the Deputy's office. And even if they could, it
escapes me why you'd want to go back there." Ruth's tone
turned strident.

"Mom-"

"They knew something was wrong! They knew it, but they wanted you on
the job so they just let you..."

"Mom, that isn't true." Josh broke in. "They tried to
help; each one of them did. None of us realized what was happening."

"I'm begging you, Joshua. Come home with me. Your father's
firm would hire you in a heartbeat."

"Not while I'm a suicide risk." Josh attempted to joke.

"That's not funny." Ruth admonished him. "I've
buried my daughter and my husband; I couldn't survive it if I lost
you too."

Josh leaned forward and took his mother's hands in his. "I know.
Don't you think I know that? I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of
this, but going home isn't going to change anything and it may even
put you in danger."

"So you won't even consider it?" She pled with him as Donna
came in with coffee. She immediately felt the tension in the air.

"I'm sorry, do you two need a minute?"

"Mom was just giving me the selling points on working in my
father's office." Josh told her and motioned for her to come sit
down with them.

"Don't you have to be a lawyer to work in a law firm?" she
asked cheekily.

"Very funny, Donnatella." Josh replied and tugged on some of her
hair that fell closest to him. Ruth watched the exchange carefully.
"What do you think? Are you ready to pack it up and move to the
great state of Connecticut?" he asked Donna. Both Donna's eyes
and Ruth's eyes widened at the implications of the question.

"I go where you go." She replied simply. Ruth's eyes clouded
with tears. Josh nodded and turned back to his mom.

"I don't think we're quite finished here yet, mom." Josh
explained but took Donna's hand in his while he sipped the coffee
he'd finally gotten Donnatella to bring him.

"I guess I can't fight both of you." Ruth acquiesced.

"Not many can. That's why we're going to finish this. Then
we'll talk about Connecticut. Okay?" Josh offered.

"Okay." Ruth agreed. She told them about her visit to the
hospital and the media requests for interviews. She told them about her
private meeting with the President and Dr. Bartlet. She told them all
the news she could think of while she watched her son and the woman she
knew he loved. It was what she saw between them that gave her some
measure of comfort when she left the building with an armed agent hours
later.



"Fill me in, Agent Casper." The President ordered.

"We've got a lot more to report, sir." Mike replied.
"We're following quite a money trail right now. Agent Sinclair
has tied money from Medalliance to no less than 2 Senators and 4
Representatives."

"We're not talking campaign money, are we?"

"No, sir. This is well laundered money, that's being dispersed
in off shore accounts. Agent Sinclair wanted to give you this report in
person, sir, but he's in the middle of an interrogation. He thinks
he has a solid lead on a White House employee who may have been
responsible for the tampering in Josh's office."

"Then that's where he should be." The President verified.
"Ron told me they were running additional tox screens on the blood
they took from Josh when he was brought into the ER. Can you tell me
about that?"

"We've been able, through computer enhancement, to show where
Josh was injected with drugs and who injected him outside the White
House gates. We're running the pictures of both individuals who had
physical contact with Josh outside the gates running through our
computer files. His blood was so filled with chemicals that it's
taken a bit of time to sort it all out. We've been able to identify
trace elements of GHB."

"The date rape drug?" Leo asked.

"Exactly. It would cause Josh to become dizzy and nauseous but walk
into the White House on his own. Once it started to take effect, he
would obligingly drink anything or take anything he was given, and best
of all, he would have absolutely no recollection of the events
afterwards if he was fortunate enough to survive."

"You think they weren't trying to kill him?" President
Bartlet asked.

"No, sir, I think they were, but they were smart enough to be
prepared for the possibility that he'd be discovered before he
stopped breathing. GHB, when combined with alcohol, severely depresses
the respiratory system. Then you add in the cocktail they provided
through his medications at home and he's extremely lucky to be
alive. If Donna hadn't come in when she did..." Mike let the
sentence trail off and President Bartlet sat down heavily at his desk.

"What about the prescription bottles that were on scene?" Leo
asked.

"Five different pharmacists, none of whom have popped on anything
else. The man pretending to be Josh claimed he didn't have health
insurance and paid cash for each prescription. They obviously wanted a
trail leading to Josh for those pills." Mike concluded.

"Then what about the pills that were tampered with in his home?"
Leo inquired.

"All that takes is access to the drugs and the ability to break into
an apartment in Georgetown. Josh's building doesn't employ
security cameras, so we'd usually to door to door interviews to find
out what neighbors have noticed. In this case.."

"In this case we don't want anyone to know we're suspicious
so you can't." The President finished the sentence.

"Precisely, sir." Mike confirmed.

"How long does my Deputy Chief of Staff have to stay underground,
Agent Casper?"

"We hope to have the case broken within 48 hours." Mike
declared.

"You're pretty confident, Agent Casper."

"We have every reason to be, sir. We have an excellent team
assembled."

"I'm glad to hear that. I want an update first thing in the
morning."

***********************************

"Put it down, Josh." Donna asked him again. "You can't
possibly even focus any longer."

"There's another connection here, Donna, and I'm missing
it." Josh scanned the pages with names and numbers written all over
it with connecting lines drawn between them.

Donna took it out of his hands. "It's time for bed."

"Okay, okay." He reluctantly agreed. "I'll put the
papers aside for now, but I'm too wired for sleep."

"Who said anything about sleep?" Donna asked and the light went
on for Josh. "I just said it was time for bed."

Josh's eyebrows rose at the implication of what she was saying.
Although there had been looks, kisses, and touches since they got home
from the hospital, neither of them had been quite ready to take that
final step over the threshold between friends and lovers.

"It just seems that we're here alone, with no chance of being
called into a work emergency or disturbed by unwanted visitors. It seems
like the perfect opportunity for me to take advantage of your weakened
condition." She said quietly into his ear.

"You're going to take advantage of me?" he questioned.

"Shameless advantage." Donna promised.

"I should probably shower and shave first. I'm a mess." Josh
mumbled against her skin.

"Only if I get to shower with you." She replied and Josh
immediately felt himself harden.

"We are the party of water conservation." He managed.

"Thanks God." Donna replied and led him into the bathroom. She
grabbed two towels from the closet shelf as they passed by and deposited
them on the sink before starting the water. Josh's hands were
roaming all over her while she adjusted the temperature and the jets.
When she finally turned back to him he captured her mouth with his and
pulled off her t-shirt in one smooth stroke.

He fumbled for a second until he realized her bra fastened in the front
and then quickly divested her of that as well. His palms smoothed over
her breasts and they immediately peaked for him. He groaned his approval
and moved his mouth down her body until he was able to take a perfect
bud into his mouth; then it was Donna's turn to groan.

"Wait. Joshua, wait a minute."

"Mmm-mmmm." He answered negatively without removing his mouth
from her skin. She chuckled.

"I'm half naked and you're fully dressed." She
protested.

"Then you'd better catch up." He challenged her while he
unzipped her pants and pushed them past her hips.

Competition had always been a mainstay of their relationship, and
apparently that wasn't going to change by adding a sexual layer to
things. Donna popped the buttons of his shirt when she pulled it open
which had the added benefit of shocking him enough to slow him down
while at the same time removing any barrier between her and his chest.
Her fingers lingered a bit over his scar before he pulled them up to his
lips to kiss them.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, Donnatella." He assured her.
"You took care of me then, too."

"I'll always take care of you." She promised and the
heartfelt conviction in her voice nearly overwhelmed them both. He
kissed her with a passion that had only been hinted at in their previous
kisses and she responded. It took another few minutes before they rid
themselves of the last of their clothing and stepped into the shower.

Donna ran the soap over his body while he poured shampoo into her hair.
Taking a shower together had more advantages than either of them had
dreamed. When they'd finished washing one another things had reached
a fever pitch. Josh reached over Donna's shoulder and abruptly
turned off the water. He wrapped one of the towels around her and after
a cursory drying session, he picked her up and carried her into her
bedroom.

He laid her on the bed and joined her there; his body desperate to join
with hers. He was about to enter her when his brain jolted into gear.

"We need protection." He sighed and laid his head on her chest
and she chuckled at the sadness in his tone.

"No, we don't. I'm on the pill." She told him.
Whispering in his ear she added, "And even if I weren't on the
pill, it wouldn't matter. I don't need or want protection when
we're together."

Josh looked into her face when her words registered. Donna, his Donna,
wanted to have a child with him. Love, that he'd been unable to
acknowledge a few days ago, rushed at him with a gale force. In one
swift move he entered her body and just like in the rest of their
relationship, their timing was perfectly in sync.

When their heart rates slowed enough to converse, Josh repeated how much
he loved her. Donna told him she had no doubts about that. They slept
wrapped around each other; skin to skin, heart to heart.

Donna's internal alarm woke her at 6 and when she stirred she woke
Josh.

"Sorry." She said quietly. "I didn't mean to wake you.
Can you go back to sleep?"

"No, that's okay. I feel very well rested." He grinned and
kissed her.

"Then it that case. I'll go get us some coffee. The machine is
on a timer, so it should be piping hot about now."

"Coffee? Twice in two days? Are you sure I haven't been fired or
something?"

"The no coffee rule applies at work, not at home, but you can turn
on the TV and check the news about your job. I'm sure firing the
Deputy Chief of Staff would make CNN." She quipped and got up with
only a towel wrapped around her. He chuckled and grabbed the remote from
the nightstand. He flipped the power on and turned the channel to cable
news where the `Breaking News' logo was flashing on the screen.
He saw Jeff Harmon's picture on the screen but was too late to get
the story from the beginning. He switched the channel and had better
luck the second time around. Donna walked in with two ceramic cups just
as the newscaster made his announcement.

"Again, this just in, Senator Jeff Harmon, a Republican from
Michigan, was found dead in his home this morning of an apparent
overdose." Josh was startled by the sound of the cups as they
shattered where Donna had dropped them on the hardwood floor.



"Well somebody better damn well have an explanation!" Agent
Sinclair roared. The five agents on his team that had been entrusted
with this high level assignment were experienced enough not to flinch
outwardly, but on the inside...

"Well?!" he demanded of the group at large.

"It seems that someone got wind of the direction of our
investigation and decided to remove the target before he could be taken
into custody." Agent Hayes responded.

Yes, it does seem that way, doesn't it, Hayes?" Sinclair agreed.
"My question is how someone might have gotten wind of the direction
of our investigation."

"Sir, we've all taken the utmost precautions in this case.
I'd have a hard time believing anyone here would have made such a
rookie mistake."

"I don't have to believe it. I have proof. A US Senator is dead,
ladies and gentlemen. Now we have two crimes to investigate and one less
suspect who might have been able to provide some answers." Sinclair
shouted. "I'm supposed to go brief the President now. How do you
suppose I'm feeling about that briefing right now Agent Peters?"

"Not very good, sir." She replied without making eye contact.

"That's a bit of an understatement. Find out where we fucked up,
people. I want some answers before I'm standing in the Oval." He
gave each of them a hard look and they mumbled `yes, sir's'
as they quickly filed out.

"Agent Casper, hold up a minute please." Sinclair ordered and
waited until his office cleared of the other agents. "You need to
move Lyman...now."

"Yes, sir." Mike had anticipated that request and had already
chosen a safe house. He had told no one about the location he picked.
"He's not going to go without Donna Moss."

Sinclair sighed. "How much of a stink will he make if we tell him
`no'."

"No stink at all sir; he simply won't leave if he thinks Ms.
Moss might be in danger." Mike said honestly.

"Fine. Take them both." Sinclair instructed while he put on his
coat for his ride to the White House. "Just get them there an hour
ago, understand?"

"Yes, sir." Mike exited right after his boss; stealing himself
for the confrontation with Josh.

************************

"Holy hell, Ron..." Adam rubbed his eyes. "What a fucking
mess."

Ron studied Adam Sinclair carefully and saw the residual guilt that one
always feels when a life is lost during an investigation.

"One of our people tripped an alarm or Harmon got nervous and tried
to back out. It has to be one of those two." Ron offered.

"Either way, we've hit a serious road block with Harmon unable
to answer questions."

"We'll get through it Adam." Ron assured him. "We've
got other leads."

"But they all filtered through Harmon." Sinclair argued.

"There's more, it will just take a little more time."

"How much time do you suppose Lyman's got?" Sinclair asked.

"Enough." Ron answered. "I swear, Adam, that man's got
nine lives."

Sinclair's pager went off seconds before Ron Butterfield's. Ron
got on the phone and Adam turned on the television as his page
instructed him to do.

"...and in another bizarre turn of events, it's being reported
that the man checked into the hospital two days ago as Josh Lyman, is
NOT , in fact the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. The hospital, which
refuses to comment on any patient receiving treatment, will not confirm
or deny the report, but we have two independent confirmations that Josh
Lyman is not currently receiving treatment there."

"Son of a bitch!" Sinclair muttered. "We got a leak." He
dialed Mike Casper on his cell. "Get Lyman out of there now.
It's all over the news that he isn't in the hospital." He
abruptly hung up.

"I need to go brief the President." Adam told Ron who nodded as
he finished his call.

"I'll go with you. We have a break at another end. I'll fill
you in on our way upstairs." Ron promised.

*********************

Josh was waiting patiently, well somewhat patiently, while Donna packed
a bag and Mike paced. Mike's nervousness was adding to Josh's.
As predicted, Josh had refused to leave without Donna. Mike understood
better why that was when he watched his friend tell Donna to go pack
some things and then gave her a reassuring, but lingering kiss. Since
then, they'd been waiting for her in the living room.

"Is it within the district?" Josh had decided to spend his
waiting time playing 20 questions with Mike about where he was taking
them. He knew Mike wouldn't tell him where they were going and the
questions would drive Mike nuts; which for Josh, just added more fun to
the game.

"Lyman..." Mike said warningly.

"Does it have 2 bedrooms, or will Donna and I have to share?"
Josh continued.

"I'll make sure you're separated if you don't shut the
hell up."

"A house would be nice." Josh went on without paying heed to
Mike. "More privacy than an apartment...maybe a nice yard..."

"Yeah, it will be good to have someplace to bury your body."
Mike muttered. His cell rang and he picked it up. "Casper." He
listened for a couple seconds before hanging it up and literally running
into the bedroom grabbing Donna by arm and exiting just as quickly.

"We're going now." Mike announced, trusting Josh to stick
close to Donna and him. Two agents met them at the back door to the
building. After getting some kind of signal, Mike pushed Donna and Josh
out into the alley and into a waiting car.

Once they were safely on the road, Josh looked over at Mike who was
driving them.

"You had a sudden urge to get going?" Josh queried.

"A sudden urge spurred on by an announcement on the news that you
are not actually in the hospital as advertised." Mike admitted.
Donna looked alarmed while Josh just looked pissed.

"It's going to be fine, Donna." Mike met her gaze in the
rear view mirror. "We're going to move you two a little farther
out of Dodge."

"Great." Josh nodded. "Another fool proof plan."

"Damnit, Josh!" Mike swore but kept his gaze scanning around
them. "There's obviously a leak."

"You think?!" Josh spouted back.

"Nobody knows where I'm taking you; not the Director, not my
boss, not the President. We'll plug the leak and finish this
thing." Mike countered.

"Yeah?" Josh asked in a quieter voice.

"Yeah." Mike quieted down too. "We're getting an escort
to the highway, then they drop off too."

"Maybe you should pick up a date. We could make it a romantic
getaway." Josh quipped.

"I figure with very little effort I can steal Donna from you, so
maybe you should just be quiet." Mike shot back.

"Maybe you should let Mike concentrate on driving, and you know,
keeping people from killing us?" Donna suggested.

Josh put his arm around Donna and watched out the windows himself. He
wasn't sure what he was going to do if he saw something alarming or
even what might qualify as alarming, but he kept watching. The escort
cars dropped off as promised and Mike continued another hour before
pulling into the garage of middle class home complete with a white
picket fence. He told them not to open their doors until the automatic
garage door closed completely. Then he led them inside the house.

The blinds were drawn, so it was a little dark inside, but other than
that, it resembled any other house they'd been in.

Mike paused by the pass through door to the garage to set an alarm while
Josh and Donna watched quietly, unsure of what to do next.

"The bedrooms are upstairs, pick whichever one you like."

"I need to call my mom." Josh told Mike gesturing for Donna to
go ahead upstairs. She reluctantly took her bag up. "She's going
to be pretty freaked."

"You can't." Josh started to protest, but Mike continued.
"I'll make sure word gets to her, Josh, but you can't call
her. You can't call anyone; which works out well since there
isn't a functioning phone in this house."

Josh finally nodded his agreement. "Look, I'm sorry about
before, with the yelling. This is all a little too James Bond for me,
that's all. You know I appreciate what you're doing, what you
have done, for me right?"

"It's my job."

"Yeah, but I've been giving you a lot of shit for it lately, and
I'm sorry about that."

Mike nodded his acceptance of the apology and Josh left to go find
Donna. He found her in the master bedroom looking out the window into a
picturesque backyard.

"We could pretend we're on a long weekend getaway." She
suggested without turning around to face him. "No work, no phones,
no people..."

"Except for our eccentric butler, Casper." Josh finished the
scenario and moved behind Donna to put his arms around her and rest his
head on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay." He promised and felt her nod.

"It's a pretty yard." She noted.

"Maybe we should look for one like this in Connecticut." He
mused and had her turning around in his arms smiling sardonically.

"You wouldn't make it a month in a Connecticut. You'd be
bored out of your mind." She challenged him.

"I could adapt." He refuted.

"Josh Lyman, I love you, but adaptability isn't among your
attributes. You're just trying to distract me right now."

"How's that working?" he asked.

"Not very well." She noted.

"Well I could step it up, but I don't know how you'd feel
about that with Mike downstairs." He kissed her to show her his
intentions.

"No, that's not happening." Donna insisted.

"Mike's a professional, Donna, I'm sure he'd be
discreet." He played with her a little more, but she wasn't
buying it.

"I'm sure he is, but he won't need to be." Donna
responded and pulled away from him. "Let's go back
downstairs."

"Then what are we supposed to do all day?" Josh whined but
followed her down the stairs.

"I'm not sure." Donna noted, feeling nervous and restless
herself. Mike was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"You get settled okay?" he asked them.

"Yeah, cause there was lots to unpack." Josh replied.

"We've got cable here and a computer with DSL; just don't
log onto any personal accounts; web pages, email, that kind of
thing." Mike informed them.

"But porn's okay, right?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, porn's fine." Mike answered without missing a beat.
"I'll just keep Donna company while you surf."

"Fine; no porn. What are we supposed to do until we can move back
home?"

"Movies, board games, cards, eat, and sleep." Mike responded
with a smile.

"Great." Josh plopped down into a Lazyboy chair while Donna
started to rifle through the DVD's.

***************************

"Ron, I swear to God..."

"Yes, Mr. President, I understand."

"Where are they now?" President Bartlet asked.

"At an undisclosed location, sir." Agent Sinclair picked up the
ball from Ron.

"Yes, but where?"

"I don't know, sir. Agent Casper chose the location and he alone
is taking them to their destination. When his escort team dropped off,
they were safely on the highway out of town."

"This is supposed to be reassuring news to me, right?" The
President clarified.

"Yes, sir. We want them safely inconspicuous." Ron confirmed.

"Good, because I had that man's mother standing right where you
are and I gave her my word as President that I was going to keep her son
safe. If I am unable to keep that promise, there aren't enough
agents in the district to keep me safe from mortal harm."

"Yes, sir." Adam Sinclair agreed.

"We do have a new lead, sir. One of my agents spotted a curious
pattern regarding White House visitors that coincides to some suspicious
behavior we have logged. We're going to need a couple hours to run
it down. We can brief you again in 2 hours?" Ron suggested.

The President nodded tersely; unhappy with the present direction of the
investigation but unwilling to slow it down in any way. "2 hours,
Ron."

"Yes, sir." Ron led Adam out of the Oval and back to the Secret
service offices in the basement. They entered a room filled with
commotion.

"Agent Butterfield, There's someone in the lobby insisting on
seeing you immediately." His assistant pounced as soon as he walked
in.

"Yeah, who is that?" he asked as he flipped through his phone
messages.

"Senator Eggleston." Ron and Adam exchanged an alarmed glance at
the presence of one of their top suspects.

"By all means, get him an appointment pass and an escort down
here."

"He doesn't want to come down here. He wants an appointment pass
with Toby Ziegler and a meeting with you in the mural room. He was very
specific." She noted as she relayed the message. "He's been
pacing at the gate for over an hour."

"Fine; arrange it. Adam, how'd you like to sit on this with
me?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Adam agreed.



"I'm sorry you need me to do what?" Toby asked.

"Call the lobby desk with an appointment pass for Senator Eggleston
and bring him to the mural room." Ron Butterfield repeated. "If
you wanted to walk him around the West Wing a little first, that would
be fine, too. Agent Sinclair and I will join you there shortly."

"And you can't tell me what this is about?" Toby asked
again.

"He says he has concerns about President Bartlet's upcoming
speech to the labor union." Agent Sinclair supplied helpfully.

"Uh-huh." Toby responded looking between Butterfield and
Sinclair. Toby considered himself to be a very good poker player, but
with these two guys, Toby was out of his league. He picked up the phone
to call the lobby and follow their instructions.

Toby took two laps around the West Wing with Eggleston before arriving
at the mural room. Eggleston was nervous; he was pale and sweating and
Toby was dying to find out why. He opened the door to the mural room and
ushered Eggleston in.

"So...concern's about the labor speech?" Toby prompted.

"I have many concerns but I could care less about the labor
speech." Eggleston admitted. "I'm going to need a
lawyer."

"Okay, I should be able to find one of those in the White House, but
why?"

"They didn't tell you what this was about?" Eggleston asked
suspiciously.

"They told me you had concerns about the labor speech."

"Jesus Christ! I need to talk to Ron Butterfield now; after I get my
lawyer." He amended. Toby was about to delve further into his need
for a lawyer when Ron Butterfield and Adam Sinclair entered the mural
room from another door.

"Senator Eggleston, this is Agent Adam Sinclair of the F.B.I."
Ron introduced his associate. "He's heading the investigation
into Senator Harmon's murder."

Eggleston, visibly shaken from that announcement, sat down on the
nearest chair.

"The media reported it was an overdose." He maintained.

"Sure it was. Josh Lyman attempted an overdose as well; fortunately
he wasn't as successful in his attempt as Senator Harmon was."
Sinclair informed him. "There seems to be a rash of overdoses going
on in the city. Who knows who could be next?"

"I'm sure Senator Eggleston is aware of all that, Agent
Sinclair. Otherwise he wouldn't have voluntarily come in to tell us
what he knows." Ron placated the Senator. He'd lost at rock,
paper, scissors, so Adam got to play the bad cop.

"This is about Josh?" Toby interjected and turned to Eggleston.
"You had something to do with what happened to Josh?"

"Absolutely not!" Eggleston correctly interpreted the rage on
Toby Ziegler's and immediately denied it. "That had nothing to
do with me. I want that perfectly clear."

"Then why were you demanding a lawyer?" Toby moved closer to the
Senator with Ron stepping between them.

"Senator Eggleston is just being cautious. He's been in politics
long enough to know how quickly things can get blown out of proportion
or completely misconstrued in this town." Ron offered and Eggleston
jumped at it.

"Yes, I was just being cautious."

"He's here of his own accord to help us with the investigation
into the overdose cases." Ron continued.

"That's right. I thought I could help with the overdose
investigations." Eggleston confirmed.

"Murder and attempted murder investigations." Adam corrected.
"And if he were truly being altruistic he would help us wrap this up
before someone else ends up in the morgue instead of crying for a
lawyer."

"I want to help." Jack Eggleston refuted. "I do!" he
turned to Ron Butterfield who appeared to be the most sympathetic of the
group. "But I have to be careful. I need to protect myself. I need
protection."

"We can provide that if the information you provide is
credible." Ron assured him.

"Wait a second!" Toby protested. "You're gonna protect
this asshole?"

"I am a US Senator, Ziegler."

"Not for long I'm guessing." Adam mused out loud. "If I
were you, I'd start warming up the vocal cords so that when the
stenographer gets here you're prepared to talk long and loud."

"I want a lawyer and a promise of protection first." Eggleston
insisted.

"We can get you a lawyer and write up an agreement for
protection." Ron allowed before Adam broke in.

"Unfortunately, those things take time and Mr. Ziegler's dance
card is full for the day so we'll have to send you out of the White
House until everything can be arranged. Sometimes, when cases are
complicated, like this one, it can take days to arrange those
things." Adam examined his fingernails. "I just hope that
your...associates...don't think your impromptu trip here was at
all suspicious. They could get the wrong idea."

"You can't send me back on the street." Eggleston stood up
and looked Ron in the eyes. "These people are very dangerous."

"I appreciate your problem, Senator, but I don't see a way
around this dilemma unless you're willing to waive your right to an
attorney at this time." Rona explained. "I am sure that your
quick and willing participation to aid in our investigation will be
taken into account down the road."

Eggleston, knowing on one level that he was being played, was still more
afraid of his `associates' than he was of the Fed's.
"Fine. Bring in the stenographer." He sat back down.

"Thank you, Mr. Ziegler. You can go back to your office now."
Ron told him.

"Like hell." Toby replied and sat down across from Eggleston.

"Mr. Ziegler, we can't effectively interview the Senator with
you here which could impede our investigation. Obstruction of justice
charges generally run 1-5 years in a Federal penal system..." Adam
let that trail off.

"Okay, okay, but if I was the one to get him in here it seems only
fair I should be able to listen." Toby groused but he got up and
giving Eggleston one last glare, left the mural room as the stenographer
came in.

***************************

"When are we going to hear something?" Josh asked Mike for the
umpteenth time in the last hour.

"In one hour and 17 minutes." Mike replied rearranging the cards
in his hand.

"Seriously?" Josh asked and then saw the expression on
Mike's face. "I'm just saying you should get updates or
something. Maybe this whole thing is over and we could be going home
right now." Mike and Donna both ignored him. "Hello? Can either
of you hear me? Have you both become deaf?"

"I wish." Mike muttered. "Donna, did Josh ever tell you
about his childhood desire to be a ballerina?"

"Excuse me?" Donna choked on her drink.

"It seems that when the Deputy Chief of Staff was four-"

"Enough. I give. In fact, I quit this whole thing. Take all my
pretzel sticks; I'm out." Josh pushed all his pretzel sticks
into the pot and left the kitchen table. A few seconds later, they could
hear the sound of the television channels being flipped repeatedly.

"He doesn't mean it Mike." Donna said quietly. "He just
hates feeling helpless and dependent on other people."

"You think I don't know that, Donnatella?" Mike grinned at
her surprise when he used her full name. "I've known him a lot
longer than you have."

"What was he like when you first met him?" she asked curiously.

"Pretty much like you see him now." Mike replied.
"Egotistical, neurotic, funny, passionate about the things he
believed in, and steadfastly loyal. Our first year at school together he
organized a student protest about...God, I don't even remember
about what, but I remember watching him when he going toe to toe with
the University President and thinking...'that guy is going to get
thrown out of school and put in jail'." Mike smiled at the
memory.

"But he didn't." Donna finished.

"Of course not." Mike shook his head. "Josh Lyman can talk
himself out of any kind of trouble. He can out-negotiate anyone on the
other side of the table...except his dad. Noah Lyman really was
something. Did you ever meet him?"

"No. I got to talk to him on the phone during the campaign, but I
never met him."

"Imagine Josh Lyman with 20 more years experience and acumen; that
was Noah Lyman. We'd go to Josh's house for breaks or Holidays
and the two of them could debate for hours. I swear, Ruth had to
threaten them both on more occasions than I could count."

"Sounds very noisy." Donna noted.

"It was that, but never dull." Mike replied. "Josh always
seemed to be doing enough for two people; like he was living for Joanie
too. His Dad was so incredibly proud of him."

"I could hear that when I talked to him. He also had a wicked sense
of humor." Donna remembered. "He had me going more than
once."

"Like father, like son." Mike quipped. "Anyway, I'm just
saying that I know Josh well enough not to take his insults personally.
You don't have to protect me from him or him from me. Although
he's damn lucky to have you there for him."

Donna blushed a bit at Mike's knowing grin. "You might want to
mention that to him at frequent intervals." She suggested.

"How long has this been going on, because I have to tell you I'm
more than a little insulted he hasn't said anything before
this."

"It's a recent development; a very recent development."
Donna admitted.

"Ah, that explains it then." Mike popped a couple pretzel sticks
in his mouth and Donna got up to look out the kitchen window, but
stopped abruptly.

"Is it okay? If I look out the blinds?"

"The glass is treated, so it's okay. This place has perimeter
alarms, Donna. If anyone picks a blade of grass, I'll know about
it." Mike assured her.

"And there's really no update in on hour and ten minutes,
right?" she confirmed.

"Really, no, unless there's been a break in the case." Mike
replied.

"I'll go check on Josh." Donna turned to leave Mike in the
kitchen, grabbing a few pretzels on her way out. She found her man
lounging on the couch still flipping channels.

"Anything good on?" she asked with a chuckle since Josh was
flipping so quickly she couldn't even identify what was on each
channel.

"No." Josh replied not looking up. Donna lifted his feet and sat
down on the couch before replacing his feet on her lap.

"Want to put a movie in?"

"No."

"Want to play a board game?"

"No."

"Want to do some work?"

"No."

"Want to get naked?"

"No....what did you say?" Josh broke out of his reverie.

"Just wanted to see if you were actually listening to me." Donna
answered. "Now are you going to tell me about this alternative
career in ballet or is Mike going to have to tell me all the nasty
details?"

"I told him that story once...many years ago...when we were both
drunk. Why is that the one detail he remembers from that night?"

"I'm guessing it was pretty memorable." Donna explained. She
let the silence play out.

"I hate this." He finally spoke.

"I know. We all do." Donna soothed.

"You know, as much as I like to pretend I'm all important and
everything, I never really thought I was important enough that someone
would try to...on purpose." Josh said quietly, unable to say the
words `kill me' out loud.

"At the risk of inflating your already sizeable ego, it would appear
that you are important enough; what you do makes a considerable
difference." Donna maneuvered herself into a position where she was
lying next to Josh on the couch; well mostly on top of him, but her head
rested on his chest and she took the TV remote out of his hand.

"Let's try this. Let's pretend it's a lazy Sunday
afternoon and we don't have any work to do. We'll turn off the
TV, snuggle and take a nap together." She put the words to action
turning off the TV's power before chucking the remote on the floor.

"A nap? What am I five now?" Josh inquired.

"No, you're a grown man with a woman who loves you lying in your
arms. Close your eyes and enjoy it." She commanded. Not seeing the
point, but unwilling to piss her off when he had her in his arms, he
closed his eyes and rubbed her back in slow, lazy circles.

It wasn't 20 minutes before Donna felt the rubbing slow and then
cease altogether indicating Josh had succumbed to sleep. She followed
him into subconscious shortly thereafter.

Donna woke disoriented later; unsure where she was or what time it was.
The room was darker than when she'd joined Josh and as she slowly
recalled where they were and why. Then she noticed what had woken her in
the first place; Josh's breathing had grown labored and he was
moaning in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. Donna was sure of it.

As gently as she could, she stroked his face and called his name. Within
a few seconds, he woke up; startled.

"It's okay. You're safe. We both are." She assured him.
He blinked a couple times and then nodded his understanding and pulled
her back down into his arms.

"Sorry I woke you." He told her.

"Don't apologize for that, Joshua."

"I'm just sorry I woke you, okay?" he responded grumpily.

"No, it's not okay. I'm sure that in the future there will
be plenty for you to apologize to me about, but these...the
nightmares...these aren't among them."

"Okay." Josh agreed quickly.

"Okay." Donna muttered and settled back into the couch with
Josh.

Mike walked in and surveyed the scene in front of him.

"I thought I heard voices." He said with a smile on his face.

"Leave us alone, Mike. With luck and a little skill, I may get to
2nd or 3rd base in here." Josh replied without looking at Mike.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone." Mike agreed immediately.
"I just thought you'd want to know about the update I just got
on your case. Carry on." Mike made it all of 5 feet before Josh sat
bolt upright, taking Donna up with him.

"What update?" Josh asked hungry for details. Mike sat down
across from them and proceeded to fill them in on what he knew.



"C.J.! C.J.!" C.J.'s head was pounding and she had only
just begun her briefing.

"If you'll let me make my statement, then I can answer your
questions; or at least try to answer them." The room quieted down.

"There has been a major development into the investigation of the
murder of Senator Jeff Harmon and attempted murder of Deputy Chief of
Staff Josh Lyman." Pandemonium broke out and it took several minutes
before she could regain control of the room and finish her statement.
"Several arrests are underway and the F.B.I. agent in charge, Adam
Sinclair will be holding a press conference from this podium once all
the suspects are secured. Several members of Congress as well as staff
in the West Wing have been implicated through direct testimony of
cooperating witnesses. In addition, copious notes detailing the motive
and means of the attempted murder of our Deputy Chief of Staff were
found in the home of Senator Harmon." C.J. took a deep breath.
"Questions?" Her name erupted from the lips of every reporter in
the room. "Steve?"

"When did the investigation involving Josh Lyman turn from an
attempted suicide investigation into an attempted murder
investigation?"

"That you'll have to ask Agent Sinclair, but I believe it was
suspected almost immediately then confirmed when Josh Lyman's memory
of the evening came back."

"You're stating that the two investigations are related?"
Steve followed up.

"Intimately." C.J. responded. "The F.B.I. in conjunction
with the Secret Service has conducted over 200 interviews and have been
able to piece together a very compelling case. Senator Harmon was
allegedly involved in criminal activities with a multi-million dollar
corporation. Chris?"

"Where is Josh Lyman? And why did the administration lie about his
whereabouts to begin with?"

"Josh Lyman is in the protective custody of the F.B.I. We announced
he was admitted to the hospital in an attempt to safeguard him while the
investigation proceeded."

"Is he still considered to be in danger?" Chris continued.

"That's another question for Agent Sinclair. Jamie?"

"What has the President's reaction been to the turn in this
investigation?"

"The President has always had the utmost faith in his Deputy Chief
of Staff and wants only to have a speedy conclusion to these
investigations in order to see that justice is done on his behalf.
That's all for now. Thank you." C.J. closed her briefing book
and made a hasty retreat from the press room. She walked directly to her
office and shut the door behind her.

"Was that okay?" she asked.

"Perfect." Ron Butterfield assured her. "Just perfect. Now
we wait."

**********************************

"What was that?" Donna asked Mike.

"That was the gifted and talented C.J. Cregg laying the bait out for
whoever the White House contact is." Mike answered.

"You really think this is going to work?" Josh inquired.

"I really do. Whoever has been giving out all access passes to the
White House is new to this game. They're going to see that,"
Mike pointed to the news conference on TV, "And panic."

"I feel a little panic coming on myself." Donna noted and Josh
squeezed her arm. "Why did C.J. lie and say Josh's memory came
back? Won't that put him in greater danger?"

"He's safe enough here and having whoever is responsible
believing Josh can point a finger at them jump starts the panic. This
will all be over very soon." He promised. "I'd try and get
some sleep."

"Sleep?' Josh repeated incredulously. "You think I can sleep
right now?"

"Joshua. A little sleep." Donna cajoled. "Goodnight
Mike."

"Goodnight Donna, Josh." Mike offered.

Donna drew Josh with her up the stairs, but she could see his brain
ticking away at the possibilities.

"Turn it off for the night, Josh. The professional investigators are
all over it."

"I can't help it. Mike says they're sure it's someone we
know; someone who works with us every day. How can that be?" He
asked as he threw himself down on the bed.

"I don't know." She said stroking his hair as she lay down
beside him. "But then I don't understand how anyone could hurt
another human being on purpose so it's all lost on me. If this is
over soon, like Mike believes it will be, are you prepared to go back
there to work?"

"I don't know." Josh replied honestly. "What about
you?"

"I don't know if I can go back into your office again."
Donna barely whispered it.

"Yeah." Josh agreed. "I thought about that too."

"Let's not think about it at all right now." Donna suggested
and leaned over him to kiss her way down his face while her hands moved
under his t-shirt. Josh tried to do what she asked and put the
investigation out of his head to concentrate on the woman kissing him.

"I thought you were against this activity with Mike downstairs."
He mused.

"I changed my mind." She countered.

"You just can't keep your hands off me. Admit it."

"I can too." Donna protested. "I was just trying to distract
you."

"You're too good to me."

"I really am." Donna nodded. "But if you'd rather skip
it and get some sleep, that's fine with me." she rolled over and
turned off the bedside lamp. She yelped when he grabbed her from behind.

"When I said you couldn't keep your hands off me? I might have
been overstating it a bit." He told her while he kissed her neck.
She smiled at the reference to her admissions on that day in Nashua,
long ago.

"Well, you didn't overstate it by much." She told him and
proved it by turning back to him and using her hands to pull him closer
to her. "I love you so much, Joshua." She took his mouth with a
desperation he couldn't understand. When he drew back for a moment
he saw tears in her eyes.

"What is it Donnatella?" he asked her quietly.

"Nothing." She tried to smile but the tears that escaped her
eyes negated the expression.

"Don't pull that crap on me." he chided her. "I know you
too well. Talk to me."

"It's stupid. You're here and you're fine. I guess it
was just hearing Mike describe all the evidence, the drugs they gave
you, the money that changed hands. It just...it made me realize how
easily they could have succeeded; that I could have lost you forever
without ever once getting to tell you how much I love you." She said
without meeting his eyes.

Mike had been very clinical about describing the plan to eliminate the
Brigham bill and Josh Lyman according to Senator Eggleston. Josh was
thinking now, that she should have been spared that information. He
couldn't imagine what had gone through her head when she found him
unconscious and barely breathing that morning. Hearing the details
seemed to have brought it all back to her with painful clarity.

Josh wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry." Josh murmured. "I can't erase the
memory of that morning, but I would give anything if I could." He
kissed the top of her head. "If you don't want to go back to the
White House, we'll find something else. I go where you go." He
repeated her words back to her and she smiled through her tears and he
managed a smile back at her as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Make love with me." she said. "I need to feel you inside
me."

Josh's expression turned serious and he kissed her once before he
slipped off her shirt and bra. His fingers explored her breasts and his
heart picked up at hearing her moan in response. His mouth trailed the
path between her chin and the waistband of her jeans while she writhed
beneath him.

He slipped the button from the top of her jeans and slowly drew down the
zipper while his mouth continued it's assault on her bare skin. She
repaid him in kind by slipping off his t-shirt and running her hands
over his shoulders to reach his back and draw him back up to her mouth.

Josh obliged her, using his teeth to take small bites of her lips while
his fingers reached down to touch her intimately. As soon as his fingers
made contact with her delicate skin she came apart in his arms. Her
orgasm moved through him and he found himself unable to wait another
second to be inside her. Sloughing off his pants while he continued to
stroke her body; let her say he couldn't multi-task now, he moved
over her again. Her eyes were closed while she absorbed the sensations
of being with him.

"Look at me Donna." He quietly commanded and her eyes instantly
opened and focused on him. "I love you." He told her as he
entered her and began to slowly build the tempo between them.

"Joshua..." she groaned as she felt herself approach the peak for
the second time. He slowed down, teasing her and drawing out the
anticipation. Impatient, she maneuvered them until she was on top and
picked up the tempo. Josh looked up at her in wonder. Her long, blond
hair was teasing the skin on his face and shoulders; determination and
desire were playing on her face. How had he managed to keep his hands
off her all this time? Fortunately, he no longer had to.

He couldn't hold back any longer and called her name as he came
inside her. His orgasm triggered hers and they clung to each other;
hearts pounding and breath mingling.

Neither of them knew what tomorrow would bring; but knowing they would
get through it together helped each of them drift into sleep.

*************************************

"So all of it was a lie?" Sam asked C.J. as they sat together in
her office with Toby.

"I read what they told me to read." C.J. responded wearily.
"I don't know what's what anymore. I'm having a hard
time believing any of this is happening."

"You should have seen Eggleston demanding a lawyer. That would have
brought it home for you." Toby noted paging through a 3 ring binder.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked trying to see the pages from his
vantage point next to Toby on C.J.'s couch.

"Finding someone to run in a special election in Ohio." Toby
told them. "Eggleston's resignation will be effective
immediately."

"That's not exactly your forte, Toby." C.J. teased reminding
them all of his horrible record in choosing candidates before President
Bartlet.

"No, it's Josh's, but since he's not here at the moment,
I thought I'd get started on it until he's back." Toby
snapped.

"You're assuming he's coming back." C.J. pointed out.

"Of course he's coming back." Toby declared confidently.
"Why wouldn't he?"

"Oh, I don't know...maybe because someone tried to kill him in
his own office?" C.J. snapped back.

"Josh Lyman does not back down from a fight; any fight. He's not
going to let these bastards win by walking away from the job he's
worked his whole life to get!" Toby insisted.

"Gee, that's kind of the attitude that made him a target to
begin with, isn't it?" C.J.'s voice rose to a shouting
pitch.

"So it's his fault?" Toby's pitch matched hers.

"I didn't say that!" C.J. protested.

Sam stood up between them and gave a loud whistle. "Shut up!" He
looked between the two of them and was surprised to note they both
obeyed him.

"Why don't we focus on what we can do right now to help and
worry about Josh's career path when he's back here safe and
sound." He suggested. C.J. and Toby didn't say anything, but
they didn't tell him off either, so Sam took their silence as
agreement.

This waiting was going to kill them all.



"Hey, Sam. What are you doing here so late?" Ainsley asked
curiously.

Sam shuffled into her office, also known as the steam pipe trunk
distribution venue, and Ainsley could see something was bothering him.
He'd been on edge for awhile now with his concern for his friends
and colleagues, Ainsley certainly understood that, but this seemed to be
something different. Still...

"Has there been some word on Josh?" she asked.

"No, not really." Sam replied plopping down into one of her
guest chairs and picking up one of her paperweights.

"What's up?"

"I thought maybe you'd want to get something to eat with
me." he said quietly then looked up at her.

Ainsley briefly considered the pile of work on her desk before meeting
Sam's eyes. "I'm always up for food."

They argued over the new teacher standards on the way to the mess,
debated points on the recent Supreme Court rulings on the way back to
her office, but once they sat down at the corner table in her office,
Sam turned somber again.

"Are you worried about Josh?"

"Of course I'm worried about Josh; Donna too." Sam replied.
"I think it's absolutely wrong to use them as bait in this mess.
I think they've been through enough already, but what do I know
about criminal investigations?"

"I thought you said the President was on top of this?"

"I'm sure he is, but you gotta ask yourself; what does he know
about criminal investigations?"

"Yeah." Ainsley agreed. "He's only the leader of the
free world. Probably can't find someone with experience to help him.
What's really bothering you Sam?"

"Eggleston's resigning his seat. He's admitted to bribery
and conspiracy."

"Sam, I don't think you should be telling me-"

"What? You're going to pick up the phone and call the paper of
record? That's not who you are, Ainsley. That's the last thing
I'm worried about."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"When did we become these people?!" Sam shouted as he stood up
and started to pace. "If the Secret Service and the F.B.I. are
right, this is all over a bill put before Congress. Republicans are our
opponents, I get that, but they're not our mortal enemies! When did
opposition to a bill mean you became a literal target? They tried to
kill Josh because he looked like he might win the vote, Ainsley, and
that was going to take money out of their pockets. Would you ever
believe such a thing?"

Ainsley let him vent. She could certainly understand his frustration but
more than that she could feel his disappointment. She hadn't known
Sam a week before she'd discovered how idealistic he was about
people, about Government. He always saw the best in people; and the best
about Government for that matter. It was part of what made him such a
gifted speech writer; those lofty ideals. It was also responsible for
the crash he was currently experiencing.

"Senators, supposed statesmen, accepting bribes and conspiring with
corporations. If they could have bought Josh off, I'm sure
they'd have preferred that method of eliminating him from the
opposition but he couldn't be bought off so they tried to kill him.
And even their method, making it look like suicide? How did we devolve
into these people?"

Ainsley waited until he took a breath and sat back down with her before
she responded.

"WE haven't devolved, Sam. A few people who work here have. I
wish it wasn't so, I wish it had never happened and would never
happen again, but you and I both know better. It's happened before
and it will happen again tomorrow. With power comes greed, corruption,
and hubris."

"C.J. said something right before I came down here. She suggested
Josh wouldn't want to come back here, even after the arrests are
made. Then Toby went off on this rant about Josh never backing down from
a fight...It hadn't even occurred to me until that moment that
Josh might not come back."

"He's been through a lot." Ainsley agreed.

"Too much. After Rosslyn, he came back like nothing happened. We
didn't even know how badly hurt he was. If it hadn't been for
Donna...who knows what might have happened to him, and Rosslyn was an
accident. This was on purpose."

"Sam. I think this has less to do with whether or not Josh chooses
to come back to work at the White House and more to do with whether or
not YOU choose to come back to work at the White House."

"What are you talking about? I haven't left. This isn't
about me."

"It's absolutely about you. This confirms every awful thing you
never wanted to believe about Government and the people who serve in it.
This has to strike at the very core of what you believe, Sam."

"It strikes at something." Sam agreed. "I don't know if
I can do this anymore, Ainsley."

"You can. Whether or not you want to is something else
entirely."

"Toby's up there trying to pick a replacement for Eggleston,
C.J. is outright lying at her briefings-" he broke off abruptly.
"You're right. I shouldn't be talking to you about
this."

"Opponents, not mortal enemies, remember?" Ainsley reminded him.
"Actually, since I work for you all right now, I can't even be
considered an opponent."

"You're a Republican." Sam chided, but she saw a ghost of a
smile playing on his face. "You'll always be an opponent."

"Only on Capitol Beat." She quipped. "You should go home,
Sam; get some sleep."

"I guess."

"But you're not going to."

"Nope." Sam agreed as he stood up. "They seem to think
there'll be a break soon."

"Will you call me when there is?" she asked.

Sam seemed to consider the request for a moment. "Sure. Sure I will.
Thanks Ainsley; for listening, I mean."

"Anytime, Samuel, anytime at all."

*******************************

Commander Jacobson had served his country for 22 years. He had served in
combat and earned commendation after commendation, but none of that
mattered now. None of that would be remembered now. This would be the
story. He held the note in his hand and took another bracing drink of
Whiskey. His service revolver sat on the table in the other room. He
wasn't a coward, but he was ashamed and he knew he could face
anything but shame. Isn't that what got him here in the first place?

He took another swig of Whiskey and jolted when there was a knock on his
door. He glanced quickly toward the door which was between him and the
service revolver.

"This is the F.B.I., open the door."

He made a dash for the service revolver and got to it just as the door
splintered in. "Hold it! Set the gun on the floor and put your hands
on your head."

Jacobson hesitated, the gun still in his hand moving toward his head.
Several calls of "drop your weapon" rang out in the room. Then
one man stepped out in front of the rest.

"Hold your fire." The man commanded. "Commander Jacobson
isn't going to hurt anyone. Are you, sir?"

Jacobson shook his head `no' but kept the gun at his temple. All
he had to do was pull the trigger; just one tiny pull. His hand
tightened.

"Commander Jacobson is a man of honor. If he tells us he's not
going to hurt anyone, I believe him. The rest of you can clear out
now." The man continued.

Reluctantly, the other agents retreated from the apartment.

"My name is Adam Sinclair, Commander. I'd like to talk to you
for a minute. I'm sorry for the unexpected entrance, but my team had
you under surveillance and they were concerned that you might make an
irreversible mistake. See, there are some mistakes that are reversible
and some mistakes that are irreversible. So far, you're still at the
reversible mistake stage. Why don't you put your weapon down and we
can talk?"

"Do you think Josh Lyman thinks it's all reversible?"

"I don't know. I've never met Josh. But we could call and
ask him, so my guess is yes, it's reversible." Sinclair paused
to let that sink in. "I've studied your file, Commander;
it's impressive.

Jacobson laughed derisively. "Was impressive, you mean."

"Every notation in your file; valor, integrity, honor. So I have to
wonder; what is it that Medalliance has on you? Bribery wouldn't
work. Threats would never intimidate you."

"That depends on the threat doesn't it?" Jacobson responded
and Adam saw him relax his grip of the revolver.

"What did they threaten you with Commander?" Adam kept his tone
neutral.

"It started with some mail. The first couple postcards were
reminders about clinic appointments. Then came envelopes with copies of
my prescriptions in them; which wouldn't be alarming except for the
fact that I got the prescriptions under a fake name at a community
clinic. I got scared then, but I still didn't know who I was dealing
with or what they wanted."

"Then they lowered the boom." Adam guessed.

"Hell, yes. They had me right where they wanted me. I had just been
promoted to the White House; my dream job. They could take it away from
me just like that." Jacobson snapped his fingers. "I probably
could have taken that hit, but it was just the tip of the iceberg. My
career, my family...I was going to lose everything."

"You made a mistake."

"They never told me they were going to hurt Lyman. That wasn't
part of the deal."

"I believe you, Commander."

"They wanted appointment tags for some of their people to get into
the West Wing. They were going to make copies of stuff in Lyman's
office; figure out what his strategy was, maybe play some head games
with him. No one was supposed to get hurt."

"You must have been pretty upset when you saw what happened to Josh
then." Adam purposefully used Josh's first name again and was
relieved to see Darrel's hand move to his side, with the gun pointed
to the ground.

"I went to them then and told them I was done. They laughed at me.
Said I was an accessory to attempted murder now, so I wasn't close
to done for them. There's no way out for me now."

"Yes, there is, Commander. I can help you get out. The
prescriptions?"

"AZT." Jacobson replied softly and Adam nodded.

"I kind of figured." Sinclair told him and Jacobson looked up in
surprise. "You're career military, your father's career
military. Threatening to tell your family and your employer that
you're taking HIV medications...that would pretty much sew it up
for you, wouldn't it?"

Darrel nodded. "It seemed like my whole world was blowing apart
then. I didn't know it was just a pre-cursor to this. Please tell
Josh Lyman I'm so sorry."

"Tell him yourself, Commander." Adam countered. "You can
even make it up to him. Come back with me. Let me get a formal
statement. I need your help to put these bastards in prison. You've
seen enough combat, Commander, wouldn't you like a piece of
that?"

"This will destroy my parents. My father-"

"And you thinking killing yourself won't destroy them? Don't
compound the mistakes. Come back with me. We'll give you a chance to
talk to your family before the story breaks and I give you my word
we'll nail every one of the people involved."

"You don't know how far up this goes."

"Then tell me." Adam challenged. "This is the part that
takes courage, Commander."

Darrel Jacobson stared at the gun he never wanted to use in the first
place and took a chance by handing it to Adam Sinclair.

*******************************

"I don't understand. You said they've made the arrests.
Hell, CNN said they've made the arrests. Why can't we go home
now?"

"This wasn't a one person operation, Josh. We need to make sure
we've got everyone involved covered." Mike argued.

"The whole lid is blown off of this thing now. I'm no threat to
them anymore."

"Yes, you are. We don't know who was with you in your office
that night and whoever it was, might not yet be in custody. You want to
take that risk?"

"I want my life back."

"Go back now and it may be cut very short." Mike countered.

"I'm going back to D.C., Mike. I can call a cab or you can drive
me back."

"What about Donna?"

"I'll put her on a plane to Wisconsin."

"You will? Have you talked to her about this?"

"I don't need Donna's permission, Mike. I'm still her
boss. If I tell her to get on a plane to Wisconsin, she'll get her
ass on a plane to Wisconsin."

"Technically, I'm on a leave of absence." Donna's voice
came from behind Josh.

"There was no way you could tell me she's standing there?"
Josh muttered while Mike smiled and took a bite of his apple.

"Where's the fun in that?" Mike asked. "You go ahead and
discuss this privately and we'll see whose ass is on a plane going
where later today."

Mike gave Donna a wink and left them alone.

"Let me just say in my own defense, that I was going to talk to you
about my plans."

"That's your defense?"

"Well, not all of it."

"Good thing since it sucks."

"Donna-"

"How can you stand here this morning and tell Mike `I'm
still her boss and I can put her ass on a plane to Wisconsin' after
all the things you said to me during the night?"

"One has nothing to do with the other." Josh snapped and Donna
blinked in surprise and hurt.

"One has very much to do with the other." She answered quietly.
"At least it did for me."

"Did?" Josh repeated.

"I guess I should have asked you how you see this affecting our work
before I jumped into bed with you. Gotten all the details straight
first."

"What I said to Mike was factually correct. I am still your boss,
and I can still order you to go where I tell you to go."

"Well, I'll just remove that impediment. I quit." Donna
turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Josh was frozen in shock. "Donnatella Moss. Come back here."
When she didn't return he followed her out into the living room
where Mike was reading the paper. "You can't just quit."

"On the contrary; I can and I just did." Donna refuted.
"Mike can I see the lifestyle section. It looks like I'm going
to have some free time, being unemployed, maybe I can catch a movie or a
show."

Mike's eyebrow shot up, but he handed her the section she asked for,
then glanced over at his friend to see Josh's response.

"Fine. Quit. It's nice to know how deep and abiding your loyalty
is."

"MY loyalty? You just sent my ass to Wisconsin without even talking
to me about it. I thought we were in this together. `I go where you
go'."

"Yes, after this is over and it's safe. For now, you go to
Wisconsin."

"Like hell." Donna responded. "Have you sent this new Tom
Cruise movie, Mike?"

"Donna...this is serious."

"You think I don't know that? I found you that morning Joshua! I
searched frantically for a pulse and called 911 while I tried to figure
out if you were still breathing. I am the LAST person you need to
convince that this is serious."

Donna threw the lifestyle section on the floor and stomped upstairs.

"Boy, are you an idiot." Mike pronounced without looking up from
the sports pages.

"You were more than enough help earlier. Why don't you stay out
of this?"

"Yeah, cause you're doing very well on your own." Mike
folded the sports pages back up. "You have been in love with that
woman since she took over your life in Nashua. If you're stupid
enough to blow it with her now that you have her in your life, you
don't deserve her. I'm getting some more coffee. Here, you can
read all about how the Met's lost last night." Mike handed him
the paper.

Josh just grimaced; talk about adding insult to injury. He couldn't
bear to look at the paper. He dropped the paper on the floor and went
upstairs to try again with Donna.

She was lying on her side on the bed, her back to him, crying. The sight
nearly broke his heart.

He walked around the bed until he was in front of her and knelt beside
her. His hand stroked her face and wiped some of her tears.

"Donna, please don't. I'm sorry." He told her.
"I'm very sorry."

"No, you're not." She argued.

"I am." He insisted.

"You're sorry you told Mike you'd put my ass on a plane to
Wisconsin?"

"No. I mean, yes. I should have talked to you first. I can see where
that was bad. But I have to go back to D.C. Donna and I want you
someplace safe when I do."

"Don't you think I want the same thing? To know that you're
safe? How do you imagine I'd feel sitting in my mother's kitchen
while you're in D.C.?"

"Donna..."

Donna sat up and looked down into his face. "If we're going to
have a future together then you're going to have to come to grips
with the fact that a personal relationship is a partnership. You
can't make unilateral decisions about us, about me, without talking
to me about it."

Josh saw the determination in her eyes and nodded his agreement.
"Would you please consider going to Wisconsin until this is cleared
up?"

"Will you be going with me?" she countered.

"Donna.." Josh stood up and rolled his eyes. "Give me two
days in D.C. and then I will join you in Madison."

"I'll go with you to D.C. for two days and then we'll fly
together to Madison."

"What was that? A counter offer? Where the hell did you learn to
negotiate?" Josh complained. "You're supposed to come up
with something in your offer that I want, to get something you
want."

"I'll go with you to D.C. for two days and two NIGHTS, then
we'll fly together to Madison." She offered.

"I assumed the nights were implicit in the offer." Josh
clarified.

"You can't assume anything in a negotiation. Where the hell did
you learn to negotiate?" Josh's lips twitched at her rejoinder,
but then his expression turned serious again.

"I don't want anything to happen to you, Donna. I couldn't
live with that." He said it so sincerely she felt her anger melt
away.

"I know the feeling." She told him and wrapped her arms around
him. "Mike doesn't seem to think this is a good idea."

"Mike is a woman."

"Nice way to talk about your friend.." Donna murmured.

"I mean it, Donna, the man is overly cautious and has a suspiciously
large knowledge of showtunes."

"Can I sing a little something for you?" Mike's voice came
from behind Josh and he looked into the twinkling eyes of Donnatella
Moss.

"You couldn't tell me he was there?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Donna repeated Mike's line
verbatim and had Josh glaring at both of them.

"So whose ass is going where now?" Mike asked when he ventured
further into their room.

"All our asses are going to D.C.; that is if you're
driving." Josh phrased it like a question.

"I'll drive on one condition."

"Which is?" Josh queried.

"We go straight to the White House. We can meet with Ron Butterfield
and Adam Sinclair and they decide what happens next."

"I can live with that, but I'll have to check with Donna first
before WE make any decisions." He tipped Donna's chin up to face
him. "How does that sound to you?"

"It sounds like a plan. I'll pack our stuff." Donna agreed.



"I can't allow that, sir." Ron interrupted the
President's plans.

"You can't allow that?" The President went toe to toe with
Ron. "If that man is responsible for the havoc wreaked around here,
I want his ass in my office."

"That's simply not possible, sir. He is going to be in a
panicked state of mind, particularly if he's called to the Oval
office to discuss these events with the President of the United States.
An individual in that state of mind is not anyone we allow within
several miles of the President. It's NOT going to happen." Ron
argued.

"Fill us in on what else Agent Sinclair learned from Commander
Jacobson." Leo directed hoping to distract the President.

"The Commander was more than a little concerned about who was
pulling the strings in this situation. He went beyond Medalliance;
he's done his homework and was able to provide several links between
Medalliance and the government officials who were receiving funds from
them."

"This Commander, he was just recently assigned to the White
House?" The President clarified.

"Yes, sir. He has an impeccable service record and was recently
promoted to the post here."

"How did someone with an impeccable service record get roped into
this circus?" Leo inquired.

Ron hesitated. "Commander Jacobson was receiving treatment for HIV
using a fake ID at a community clinic. Medalliance was able to procure
that information and use it as leverage to get him to issue appointment
tags for the people they wanted in the building. He was told only that
they were going to engage in political espionage; he had no knowledge of
the attack on Josh Lyman."

Jed sent a scathing look at Leo. "I swear to God, Leo. We are going
to take care of that issue once and for all..."

"I don't know that this is the time to tackle gays in the
military, sir."

"It is exactly the time Leo." Jed erupted, taking his temper
over the whole situation out on his chief of staff. "Why should a
career military man who has served honorably and commendably be forced
to use a fake ID to get medical treatment to keep his job and protect
his life? It's reprehensible!"

"There's a lot about this that's reprehensible, sir.
Let's take this one step at a time."

"I'd love to. Put the Secretary of Health and Human Services in
this office, and I'll take it to the next step." Jed railed.

"I can't allow that, sir." Ron repeated himself.
"He's shifting money to off shore accounts. Agent Sinclair is
certain that as soon as he learns of Commander Jacobson's
cooperation, he'll attempt to flee. Right now, he still believes
he's insulated from this."

"And I intend to be the one to rid him of that particular illusion.
Bring him here." President Bartlet insisted. "He used this
administration and I'm going to personally fire him before you send
him to prison."

"No, sir, you're really not." Leo stepped in. "You can
send him a nice long letter if you like, Ron can personally deliver it,
but he isn't stepping one foot in this office."

"Excuse me, sir." Ron interrupted when his pager went off.
"I need to take this."

"I mean it Leo. I want to talk to this Commander Jacobson, too."

Leo blew out a frustrated sigh. "I'll get right on that,
sir." He rolled his eyes. "Look, I understand your frustration,
sir, but there are just some things you can not do and this is one of
them. If Josh can sit on his hands in a safe house after someone tried
to take his life, surely you can sit on your hands in the oval for a
bit."

"Mr. President, Leo. That was Agent Casper. He's en route to the
White House with Mr. Lyman and Ms. Moss. I need to arrange some
additional security for their arrival." The President nodded his
permission for Ron to leave, then turned another knowing look at Leo.

"Josh Lyman strikes again." Leo muttered.

*************************************

"You want to repeat that Agent Casper?" Adam Sinclair had run
out of patience.

"I'm on my way in with both subjects, sir. It was that, or they
were voluntarily leaving protective custody. I didn't have any other
way to stop them from returning."

"Did you lose your weapon at some point?" Sinclair said
sarcastically. He knew he was taking his mood out on Casper, but
seriously the past few days were just too much.

"I didn't think that was the best alternative, sir."

"You should have checked with me first. Maybe you're too close
to the subjects to effectively work this case."

"I beg to differ, sir. My relationship to the subjects is the one
thing that's helped keep a lid on things over here. And with all due
respect, sir, we're on our way in. It's a little late to shut
the barn door."

The timing wasn't lost on Sinclair, and Casper knew it. Sinclair
could send agents to intercept them. There were more confrontational
methods of keeping someone in protective custody, but Sinclair very much
doubted the President would approve. As soon as this case was wrapped
up, he was going to take a nice long vacation without his phone or his
pager.

"Bring them straight to the ellipse; no stops, no detours. If Lyman
objects; use the weapon, use the handcuffs. I don't give a
damn."

"Yes, sir." Mike replied.

*******************************

"I'm saying we should have heard something by now." Sam
complained to Toby.

"And yet we have not." Toby replied.

"That's true. So I'm thinking we should be more proactive
and go demand some answers."

"Yes, because demanding answers from Federal Agents always works
well."

Toby's response deflated Sam's rush for answers. He sat back
down on Toby's couch. "You really think he'll come back to
work here?"

"Josh?"

"Yes, Josh. Who else would I- Yes, Josh."

"I do." Toby said with complete conviction.

Ginger popped her head in Toby's office. "Leo wants you both in
his office."

Both men instantly responded and met up with C.J. in the Chief of
Staff's office.

"Things are going to be happening a little fast for the next few
hours. I need you all to buckle in, now." Leo began. "Agent
Sinclair is going to be announcing some arrests shortly in conjunction
with Josh's case. It's going to cause some shake ups."

"Has anyone spoken to Josh?" C.J. asked.

"No one except Mike Casper." Leo told her.

"Is anyone going to get a chance to talk to Josh?" she pushed.

"I imagine so. Particularly if you're near the ellipse in the
next 30 minutes or so."

"They're bringing him back here?" Sam asked in concern.

"More like he's bringing them back here." Leo muttered.
"Our Deputy Chief of Staff has apparently lost the last of his
patience."

"He had some of that?" Toby deadpanned. Leo chuckled.

"I think Donna had some of that which she was lending to Josh. Now
that's gone too." Leo explained. "This is what we know at
present."

Leo took a breath and began relaying the facts as they had been told to
him by the Secret Service and the F.B.I.

"Approximately 4 weeks ago. Corporate representatives of Medalliance
began putting together a plan to thwart our attempt to get Senator
Brigham's health care bill passed. They began with members of
Congress that they already had on their payroll and stepped their
efforts up from there."

C.J. was feverishly taking notes. Sam and Toby merely listened with rapt
attention. From the testimony provided by Eggleston, Medalliance had
been providing huge monetary contributions through off shore accounts
and dummy corporations for some time. This was in exchange for vocal
opposition to any Government funded health care alternatives and support
in new drug testing policies and procedures."

"How many members of Congress have been implicated, Leo?" Sam
asked.

"At present, we have documented proof that 7 members of Congress
were directly involved in this." Leo answered and saw the face of
the Deputy Communication Director fall. "3 Senators and 4
Representatives."

"Jesus." Was Toby's only response.

"It gets worse. When they realized how effective Josh was becoming
in spearheading this debate, they decided to bring it to a new level.
His home and his office were invaded. His medication was replaced with
drugs that had side effects that included; aggression, paranoia, and
mood swings."

C.J. stopped taking notes, sick by what she was hearing.

"When that still wasn't enough to stop him and Josh started
digging around the connection between Harmon and Medalliance, they took
it to the ultimate level and faked his suicide attempt."

"How the hell could they accomplish that inside the White
House?" C.J. demanded.

"They had some inside help. That will all be part of the report
Agent Sinclair gives you; but for now, we're not releasing the name
of that individual." Leo took a deep breath before he continued.
"On that particular night however, they didn't need help getting
inside."

*******************************

"Josh!" Sam exclaimed and embraced his friend in a hug as soon
as he stepped into the building. Sam was still shaken from the briefing
Leo had given them and held onto his friend a beat longer than was usual
for them.

"Hey, it's good to see you." Josh admitted and gave Sam a
smile. Donna, who'd been watching from one step behind Josh, found
herself enveloped in a hug from Sam as well.

"Let's keep moving, here, okay?" Mike noted and motioned for
them to follow the two additional agents that had been waiting with Sam.
They walked quickly inside and downstairs to the room that they had used
to plan the M.S. announcement.

"Okay, we're here now. What is it you wouldn't tell me in
the car?" Josh asked Mike who spared a glance at Sam and Donna
before he answered.

"My boss completed his interview with Commander Jacobson, the
officer who assigned appointment tags to the individuals Medalliance
wanted in the White House?" Mike reminded them. "My boss is
convinced Jacobson wasn't the one who was with you that night in
your office."

"Then who was it?" Donna demanded. "I thought everyone
involved was in custody?"

********************************

"Sir, we have a complication. Secretary Phillips is calling
Commander Jacobson's cell phone. This is the second attempt."

"Is this his usual M.O.?" Sinclair asked Jacobson.

"When I'm on duty at the White House he contacts me via my cell,
yes. But I wasn't expecting a call from him."

"Can you call him back?" Sinclair asked, watching Jacobson
carefully. The commander was still close to the edge in his opinion, but
if he could get the Secretary to implicate himself it would speed things
up considerably.

Jacobson nodded and Sinclair held out his hand for the phone which his
subordinate dropped into his hand. "Keep it brief and make him come
to you. That way we can ensure your safety."

Jacobson hit the buttons that would connect him to the Secretary of
Health and Human Services. "Mr. Secretary, I'm sorry I missed
your calls. What can I do for you, sir?" Jacobson was able to keep
his voice level which impressed Sinclair to no end.

Jacobson held the phone between himself and Agent Sinclair so that he
too could hear the conversation.

"How are things going over there, Commander? There seems to be quite
a stir."

"Yes, sir. Apparently several arrests have been made and the F.B.I
is getting ready to issue a statement."

"Have you talked to anyone, Commander?"

"I was interviewed along with everybody else who was in the building
at the time of the attack. I haven't had any further requests for
information, sir, is there some reason to think that might change?"

"No, not that I'm aware of." Secretary Phillips replied.
"Still, I think it might be in our best interest to meet and make
sure everything is taken care of."

"Yes, sir. I'm all in favor of that, but I'm on duty for the
next 6 hours; schedule shift. We'll have to meet here."

"That's not a problem. It wouldn't be unusual for someone in
my position to want an update from the Chief of Staff in person.
I'll arrange an appointment there and then meet with you."

"Yes, sir. I will see you shortly, sir." Jacobson complete the
call.

"Well done, Commander. We're going to get you wired for your
meeting."

"Wouldn't it be easier to wire the office?" Jacobson asked.

"Yes, but we can't be sure he'll stay there with you. You
have the right to refuse this meeting; refuse to wear the wire."
Sinclair informed him. Sinclair thought it would help if Jacobson saw
this as his own choice to try to make restitution.

"No, I'll do it." Jacobson agreed and one of Sinclair's
agents went to get the necessary hardware. "That call you took
earlier; Josh Lyman is in the building?" Jacobson asked.

Sinclair paused before giving his answer. "Yes, he's under
additional protection in the building at present."

"Could you ask him if he'd be willing to speak to me?"
Jacobson requested.

"I can ask, but I'm not sure that would be too high on his
priority list right now." Sinclair admitted.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd try." Jacobson responded.
Sinclair nodded and made the call to Mike Casper.

"Sir, we have confirmation from the agents on site, Secretary
Phillips has left his home and is en route to the White House. Estimated
time of arrival is 25 minutes from now."

"Thanks." Sinclair acknowledged.



"Absolutely not." Donna answered before Josh could say a word.

"I think he was talking to me Donnatella." Josh quipped.
"And what happened to not making decisions without discussing
it?"

"That doesn't apply to situations like this when the answer is
obvious." Donna countered.

"Mike?" Josh turned to his friend for more input.

"Sinclair says he's a decent guy and Sinclair's an excellent
judge of character." Mike offered.

"Decent? He's a decent guy?" Donna protested.

"This is the man responsible for letting dangerous people into the
White House?" Sam confirmed.

"Yes, but according to his statement, he wasn't aware there was
any kind of physical danger involved."

"Well that makes it all better, then." Donna replied.

"I'm not saying it does, Donna." Mike responded evenly.
There was already way too much emotion in the room. "Sinclair said
they barely stopped the guy from shooting himself. He's pretty guilt
ridden about the situation and wanted the chance to apologize and take
responsibility for his actions."

"Then he can write a letter from his prison cell." Sam
suggested.

"Sam..." Josh began, but was at a loss for how to continue. Josh
knew a thing or two about guilt. It was an emotion that frequently
threatened to eat him up.

"You can't be thinking about doing this." Donna said to him.

"He's only got a small window of opportunity before Secretary
Phillips arrives." Mike added.

"I'll see him." Josh decided and had both Sam and Donna
gaping. "I have a few things I'd like to say to him too."

Donna took a seat at the conference table and looked away. Josh hunkered
down in front of her. "This is why we came back here; to get some
answers and some closure."

Donna looked at Josh and saw this was something he needed to do.
"Please be careful."

"Mike will take care of me. I'll be fine." Josh assured her.
Mike called Sinclair back and relayed the message to him. After another
minute he turned back to the trio watching him.

"Here's how it's going to work. I'm going to take Josh
to Jacobson's office. Agent Leong here is going to take Sam and
Donna with her to the Secret Service operations room. Then when Josh and
I are finished with Jacobson, we'll meet you two back there."

Josh gave Donna a quick kiss and followed Mike to the Commander's
office. Josh wasn't sure what he expected, but what he found was a
stereotypical military officer in his 40's who was being fitted with
a wire that would transmit and record his upcoming conversation with
Secretary Phillips. He looked tense, which Josh imagined fit the
circumstances, but Jacobson's face went pale and he stood up when he
spotted Josh.

"Mr. Lyman. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to apologize
to you in person. I can't tell you how sick I've been over what
happened to you."

"I can tell you how sick I was." Josh replied. "The drugs
your friends gave me nearly killed me, and as it is, they're not
sure what long term effects there might be."

"I swear, Mr. Lyman, I had no idea what they were planning to do to
you." Jacobson was visibly shaken now. "They aren't my
friends. They didn't buy my cooperation. I didn't gain anything
personally. They used my medical information-...It doesn't matter.
I picked my security over yours. It didn't seem like a very tough
call at the time. If I'd known just what they were planning, I never
would have helped them. I know you have no reason to believe me or
forgive me, but I hope someday you might do both."

"We need to go, Josh." Mike murmured.

"I'm going to fix what I can here. I can't undo what they
did to you, but I can and will help you get the justice you
deserve." Commander Jacobson promised.

Josh, at a loss for words, merely nodded. "Good luck,
Commander." He managed before Mike escorted him out and over to the
Secret Service offices.

Donna looked relieved to see him but Sam still looked grim.

"We get to stay and listen to this?" Josh queried.

"Only if you want to." Mike replied.

"I certainly do want to." Josh answered and then felt Donna
tense next to him. "Donna, you don't have to stay; neither of us
do I guess. What do you want to do?"

"I'll stay too." She replied.

"Sam?" Josh asked his friend.

"I think I need to hear this too." Sam told him.

"Then take a seat people. The curtain rises in just a few
minutes." Mike announced.

*************************************

"I thought they weren't going to allow him in the building."
President Bartlet mocked Leo.

"They're thinking they can get him to incriminate himself if
they go forward with the meeting between him and Commander
Jacobson." Leo explained. "He's asking for an update on the
investigation from me and then going to meet Jacobson."

The President thought about that for a minute. "Where are Josh and
Donna?"

"With the Secret Service. Ron is recommending Secret Service
protection for both of them until they're satisfied all the
individuals involved have been secured."

"Josh is going to love that." The President noted and Leo
nodded. "He has to agree to it; sign off on it. Do you have any
brilliant ideas about how you'll get him to that?"

"I won't have to. Donna will get him to sign off on it." Leo
said confidently.

The President raised his eyebrows in a silent question, but Leo
didn't elaborate further. "After this is done, I want to see
both of them in here."

"Yes, sir. I need to go now. Agent Sinclair will be sitting in on my
meeting with Secretary Phillips."

President Bartlet nodded and Leo left him alone in the Oval.

*********************************

The Secretary was escorted past security without a pause. When he got to
Leo's office, Margaret ushered him inside where he was introduced to
Agent Sinclair.

"Leo, you wouldn't believe the calls I've been getting. What
the hell is going on?"

"I'm afraid the lack of verifiable information is my fault Mr.
Secretary." Adam stepped in. "We've needed to play things
close to the vest until we were sure all the parties involved were in
custody. Now that we've completed our investigation, we can share
those details with you and the other cabinet members."

"The investigation is completed already?" Secretary Phillips
asked in surprise.

"We've had F.B.I. and Secret Service running around the clock on
this." Leo concurred. "This involved a member of the
President's staff as well as a member of the Senate. The President
has been getting hourly updates."

"I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that's it's all
been resolved." Phillips visibly relaxed.

"I have a copy of my final report for you, Mr. Secretary, and
you'll need to familiarize yourself with it since many of the
parties involved interact with your agency." Adam told him as he
handed him the papers. "In fact, if you could make yourself
available for the press conference, that would be tremendously
reassuring for the people to see the head of the agency taking an active
role in cleaning this all up."

"Well...yes, of course, whatever I can do to help." He
replied.

"Great. We'll do our briefing in an hour." Adam thanked him.
"You should grab some coffee and look over the report."

"Alright, I will." Phillips was about to leave when the door
between the Oval office and Leo's office suddenly burst open with
President Bartlet on the other side. Ron, sporting the most animated
face Leo had ever seen right next to him.

"Hello, Mr. President." Secretary Phillips addressed his boss.

"Bob, can you believe what the hell has been going on around
here?" The President asked him.

"No, sir. That is, Agent Sinclair just gave me a copy of his report
so I'm not up to speed an everything yet, but what I've heard so
far is astonishing."

"Yes, it certainly is." The President agreed. `"Now that
everyone involved is in custody, Agent Butterfield and I are reviewing
the interview transcripts. I swear to you Bob, these people, (Jed
Bartlet shook the papers in his hand) these people are going to feel the
fury of God's own thunder."

"Yes, sir." Secretary Phillips gulped.

"Sir, we REALLY need to get back to this now." Ron Butterfield
said urgently.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," President Bartlet replied and once again
closed the door to the Oval.

****************************

"Sir, I thought we had an understanding about no interaction with
Secretary Phillips." Ron tried to keep his patience reigned in.

"Yes, you said that under no circumstances could he be in the Oval
and that under no circumstances I could go into Leo's office while
he was there. I made sure to keep both feet from crossing the
threshold."

"You're very clever, Mr. President." Ron said sarcastically.
The fact that he'd elicited any kind of reaction from the normally
stoic Secret Service Agent pleased the President no end.

"I like to think so, Ron. What's next?" The President sat at
his desk and continued through the report with Ron.

**************************

"Commander?"

"Mr. Secretary." The Commander stood and it took all his skill
to keep from shaking. "Please come in."

The Secretary looked around for a minute. "Let's take a walk
instead. Stretch our legs."

Blew that one, Jacobson thought to himself. All he was supposed to do
was keep him in the office and 30 seconds in, he'd blown it already.

"Okay...sure. Let me grab my pager." Jacobson pulled the top
drawer of his desk but Secretary Phillips reached over and stopped him.
"You're not going to need it. It will just be a short walk."
Jacobson kept his face neutral.

"Yes, sir." Jacobson followed the Secretary out of his office
and down the hall.

"I have to keep this short. I'm scheduled to be part of the
F.B.I. briefing in less than an hour. I've heard directly from the
Agent in charge that they've concluded their arrests."

"You're kidding." Jacobson responded.

"No. I told you. There are no other links between us and these
cases. They've got it all sewn up with their usual Government
efficiency." Phillips drawled.

"What about Josh Lyman? I heard his memory has returned."
Jacobson inquired.

"If that was true, I wouldn't be standing her talking to you
right now." Secretary Phillips laughed.

Jacobson stopped walking for a moment causing the Secretary to stop as
well. Phillips pulled on his arm. "This way." Phillips directed
him and they began walking further downstairs.

On the other side of the building, the spectators of the show were
watching the proceedings with tension. The tension increased when Sam
saw the direction they were heading in.

"Where the hell are they going?" He asked no one in particular.

"Someplace out of the way and deserted." Mike responded. Sam
stood and grabbed a phone from the off the table.

Mike put his hand over it. `What are you doing?"

"They are heading straight toward Ainsley Hayes's office.
I'm calling to get her out of there."

"You can't. She can't come barreling out of there in the
middle of this." Mike told him.

"She can't get CAUGHT in the middle of this either." Sam
protested.

"The likelihood of them going-"

"Likelihood? You're going to talk to me about likelihood?"
Sam shouted.

"Mike..." Josh pleaded as they all watched the two men get closer
and closer to Ainsleys' office.

Mike took his hand off the phone. "Tell her to lock her door."

Sam hurriedly dialed and heard Ainsley's familiar voice.

"Ainsley! Walk quietly to your door and lock it. Lock it now."
Sam insisted.

"Sam? What are you-"

"Do it now, Hayes. Lock the door." Sam instructed. Ainsley did
as she was told.

She brought her voice down to a whisper. "What's going on? Are
we crashed?"

"Stay away from the door until I tell you it's safe to open it
again." Sam watched in growing horror as Phillips tried one door and
then another before getting to Ainsley's door. All of them blessedly
locked. It took 3 more tries before Phillips found a door that was open
and ushered Jacobson inside.

"We need to sever our relationship, Commander." Phillips wasted
no time. "You are the only thing linking me to this mess and I'm
the only thing left linking you to this mess. We both need to
disappear."

"I'm not interested in disappearing, Mr. Secretary."
Jacobson told him. "My career is my life. That's how I wound up
in this to begin with."

"Your CAREER is going to end one way or another, Commander. Believe
me when I tell you this is the more pleasant alternative."

"Are you threatening me, Mr. Secretary? Because I have to say that
if my career is over, I have very little too lose in marching upstairs
and talking to the Secret Service about what I know." Jacobson's
real anger started to show. Sinclair whispered in his earpiece to take
it down a notch. Jacobson took a breath. "I'm sorry, sir.
It's been a tense few weeks."

Phillips seemed to consider this, then answered more calmly.
"I'm sure it has. But I have the ability to make your retirement
more comfortable. You leave the country immediately. You'll have an
offshore account to access once you're overseas."

"And you? What guarantee do I have that you won't pin the whole
thing on me once I've left?"

"How could I implicate you without implicating myself?" Phillips
reasoned.

"I was the one who got those people in the building, not you."

"But I was the one in Lyman's office that night, not you."
Phillips reminded him.

"I couldn't get an appointment tag set up that quickly that
night." Jacobson replied.

"With the vote going on, things were hectic, and I was expected to
be there working the vote anyway. No one missed me for the half hour I
spent locked in Lyman's office feeding him pills and liquor."
Phillips explained. "It was the easiest million I ever made."

"Over a vote?"

"Over a Government policy that would cost our country millions of
dollars and lose my friends hundreds of millions of dollars. For what?
Health care for illegal immigrant children and children of parents who
can't get a job and provide for their own family? What a joke."

"Aren't you concerned that now that this whole thing has been
revealed it will get more sympathy for the bill you're trying to
oppose?"

"The bill is dead. And even if Lyman isn't, his reputation has
been forever tarnished. Who's going to want a man with a serious
mental disorder running their campaign or their Government? Even more;
who is going to want to spearhead the opposition when they've seen
what happens to the people who do? No one is going to want to pick up
and be the next standard bearer for this issue. That I can promise."
Phillips assured him. He handed Jacobson an envelope.

"Everything you'll need is in there. New ID, off shore accounts;
everything. It would be best if you were gone within the next few hours.
Then next week, disillusioned with the failings of Government work, I
will resign and move my family far, far, away."

Jacobson made a show of thinking things over. Then looked up and met his
eyes. "Yes, sir."

Phillips smiled and shook Jacobson's hand. "Have a good trip,
Commander." Phillips left Jacobson alone in the room and Jacobson
tipped his head back until it hit the wall.

"Well done, Commander." Sinclair's voice came into
Jacobson's earpiece again.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'd like you to go back to your office until we make the
arrest."

"Yes, sir." Jacobson agreed and walked slowly back to his office
where another agent met him. Jacobson peeled off the mic/camera and
earpiece before laying them on his desk. "Agent Sinclair will be
down to see you shortly, Commander."



"Ains? It's safe to leave now." Sam spoke to her on the
phone.

"Are you sure? Cause I could just stay here and get a little more
work done, you know?"

Sam almost laughed at her response. "Tell you what? I'll come
down there and get you."

"That would be better." Ainsley agreed quickly.

"I'll be right there." Sam promised. Mike motioned for an
agent to go with him and Sam made no objection.

Silent tears ran down Donna's face. When Josh noticed them, he took
her arm and pulled her down to sit on his lap; holding her close.

"He sat in your office and gave you pills he believed would kill
you."

"And Mike here is going to make sure he pays for that, right
Mike?"

"Damn straight." Mike replied.

"He can't. There's nothing he can do that will be payment
enough." Donna maintained.

"Maybe that's exactly what you should say during your victim
impact statement." Mike suggested and Donna's head whipped
around.

"I'm not the victim here."

"The hell you're not." Mike replied. "Weren't you
the one who found him barely alive? Wasn't your life impacted with
the fear, the investigation, your job, your home?"

"Mike's right." Josh agreed. "We were all impacted by
this." He turned to Mike. "Am I clear to take a walk?"

"The President wants to see both of you in the Oval." Mike
informed them. "I'll walk you up."

They trio walked somberly up to the Oval; Josh and Donna were
immediately sent in. The President rose from his desk and took Donna
into his arms like she was one of his daughters before embracing Josh in
a similar hug.

"Am I glad to see the two of you." He exclaimed. "Please sit
down."

Josh and Donna took a seat together on the couch opposite the President

"Ron tells me that he and Adam will have this wrapped up by morning.
There's going to be a lot of fall out naturally; not the least of
which means replacing several members of Congress and my Secretary for
Health and Human Services." The President paused. "I also need
to know if I'm going to have to look for a new Deputy Chief of
Staff."

Donna looked over at Josh and saw the turmoil on his face; she took his
hand in hers.

"But that's not an answer that you need at this moment, is it
sir?" Donna asked. "Surely someone who's been through
everything Josh has been through in the last few weeks has earned some
time to think about it, right?"

"She's still taking care of you I see." The President
addressed his remark to Josh before turning to Donna. "Of course he
has. You both have. If it means anything, the White House, through C.J.,
and I personally, will be making statements of support for you. I need
you Joshua. I don't know that I can get through re-election without
you."

"I'm sure you can, sir, but I appreciate the sentiment."
Josh replied. "Is there anything else, sir? We'd both like to go
home."

"There is one last thing." President Bartlet got up from the
couch and crossed over to his desk where he retrieved a piece of paper.
"You're going to have Secret Service protection for awhile, but
in order for me to order it, you need to sign this." He handed the
paper to Josh. He started to protest, but Donna handed him a pen.

"Sign it, Joshua." She insisted. His mouth twitched.

"I was going to, Donnatella. I was simply going to ask the President
about protection for you."

"I don't need my own protection." She stated.
"You'll have protection; and where you go, I go." Josh
smiled and signed the paper. Then he shocked the hell out of her and
kissed her right there in the Oval office in front of the President.

"It looks like we may have a couple more issues to deal with when
you come back." The President quipped just as Leo came in.

"If it's going to be a problem, sir, I'll give you my
resignation right now." Josh stood up and faced his boss.

"That's not going to be a problem for me, Joshua. Is it a
problem for you, Leo?"

"Is what a problem, sir?"

"Josh seems to be concerned that kissing Donna might be a problem
for one of us. Frankly, I think he means you; everybody knows what a
romantic I am."

Leo shook his head. "No, no problem here. I've already
transferred her to my office. She'll direct report to me from now on
and I can loan her out to my senior staff as needed."

"Then she still works with me?" Josh clarified.

"I think it's taken for granted that you're the senior staff
with the most needs." Leo replied and Josh smirked.
"Professional needs you idiot. This arrangement is contingent, of
course, on Donna's agreement. When she gets tired of taking your
grief, she only has to say the word and I move her on to C.J. or
Toby."

Donna walked over and kissed Leo on the cheek. "Thanks Leo."

"When can you be back at work?" Leo asked his Deputy.

"I haven't decided whether or not I'm coming back to work
yet." Josh answered.

"Of course you're coming back to work. Take a day or two; rest
up, then get your ass back at your desk. We have a re-election campaign
to work on." Leo ordered before he crossed back to his office.

"That means he's missed you." The President translated.
"Take as much time as you both need. Get some rest."

"Thank you, Mr. President." Donna replied.

"Thank you, sir." Josh echoed and they walked out hand in hand,
making Jed smile for the first time all day.

"Charlie!" he bellowed for his bodyman.

"Yes, sir."

"Send Sam and Toby in please, will you?"

"Yes, sir."

*********************

By the time Sam got done explaining all that had been happening, Ainsley
was even more freaked out than she had been on the phone.

"Who knew working at the White House could be such a dangerous
prospect?" she asked.

"I don't know that you were in any actual danger, but I
didn't want them anywhere near you."

"Thank you, Sam." Ainsley kissed his cheek just as his pager
went off. Sam spared a glance at it.

"I have to go see the President. Why don't you bring some of
your stuff upstairs and you can work in my office for awhile?"

"Sure." Ainsley agreed, gathered her things, and matched him
step for step until they reached the Oval office. Then Ainsley moved off
to go work in his office.

Charlie waved him in.

Once inside, Sam noted Toby was already there. "The head of my
Secret Service is currently arresting my Secretary of Health and Human
Services. C.J. is going to need a statement to read very shortly and
I'm going to need a speech for tomorrow morning."

"What would you like to say, sir?' Toby asked.

"That this scandal is not a measure of what Government is or what it
stands for."

"Isn't it?" Sam asked.

"Sam..." Toby warned.

"No, Sam it isn't." Bartlet reaffirmed. "It's not
why you're here, or Toby, or C.J., or Josh. Is everyone here pure of
heart and purpose? No. We're human beings. Some of us make mistakes
in who we trust, some of us choose money and power over the people
we're supposed to represent, and some of us...don't trust the
electorate and tell them we have M.S."

"Sir, I didn't mean-" Sam began.

"I know you didn't but you could have. More than a few will draw
parallels between my lack of disclosure and the corruption surrounding
this healthcare bill." The President surmised.

"It's not the same, sir." Toby offered. "It's not
even within driving distance of the same thing."

"I don't think so, Toby, but others might; they will.
They'll look at the newspapers tomorrow, read the headlines and
decide we're all self-serving liars and thieves concerned only with
our own best interests."

"Then we need to say something to counteract that." Toby
replied.

"More importantly, we need to do something to counteract that."
Sam countered.

"Get C.J.'s statement ready first; she'll need it within the
hour. Then we'll worry about my speech." The President said by
way of dismissal. Just as Sam reached the door, President Bartlet called
him back.

"Sam, did you have chance to talk to Josh when he got back
today?"

"Yes, sir, I did."

"I've asked him to take a few days to recuperate from all this
while he considers whether or not he'll come back."

"Do you think he will?"

"I'm not sure. I was hoping you could help me convince him."

"I may not be the right person for that job, sir."

"Why not?"

"I'm having trouble convincing myself to come back tomorrow. I
couldn't possibly convince Josh."

"It's easy to become disillusioned, Sam. There are plenty of
people in the world who'll give us plenty of ammunition for that.
You could go back to practicing law; I'm sure there's lots of
good you could accomplish there."

`Yeah, I can go back to protecting oil companies from liability
claims." Sam huffed.

President Bartlet chuckled. "There's that...or you could help
me get a couple bills passed this session. I was thinking a bill
allowing gay servicemen and women to openly serve. Plus, there's
this universal health care bill that needs another vote."

Sam looked up at him in surprise. "You should have heard Phillips,
Mr. President. He was so sure that the bill would never be resurrected
because of the damage they did to Josh and anyone who aligned themselves
with him. That Josh's career could never be resurrected because
he's been diagnosed with PTSD."

"In my faith, we widely believe in resurrection." Th President noted.

"Phillips isn't alone in his opinion. I don't know who's
going to take Josh's phone calls anymore let alone be persuaded by
him on a Congressional vote issue."

The President merely continued to look at Sam and waited for him to
continue.

"Even if Josh comes back, he's the last person who should touch
a new health care bill."

"Actually, I was thinking he should take the gay rights bill, and
you should take on the health care bill." President Bartlet opined.
"The gays in the military are essentially dealing with the issue of
prejudice. People don't think gays can serve effectively in the
military. It seems to me that Josh is dealing with the same sort of
prejudice. He'd be the natural choice on that issue. Who'd
understand it better?"

"That's one way of looking at it, sir." Sam replied.

"That leaves you and universal health." President Bartlet noted.

"I'm a speech writer, Mr. President. I can't negotiate on
the hill like Josh can."

"Think of it as a series of small speeches then; persuasive speeches
for a very small, targeted audience." President Bartlet suggested
and Sam laughed. "You were right, Sam. It isn't enough to talk
about changing things, we have to actually change them, but I can't
change them by myself. Will you help me do that?"

"Yes, sir." Sam said quietly.

"Let Toby take care of C.J.'s statement. You start on my speech
for tomorrow. Make sure you include language for the two new bills I
want to see on my desk."

"Yes, sir." Sam understood he was being dismissed and got up to
leave. He found Ainsley seated at his desk typing away furiously.

"What are you working on?"

"Polishing up some language on employment law." She replied
without looking up. "I suppose you need your desk back."

"No stay put. I can work here...but I was wondering if you could
help me a bit."

"Sure, with what? You need something translated into
Republican?" she quipped.

"I'm trying to forget you speak Republican." Sam responded.
"The President wants me to work on an address for him to give
tomorrow. He wants to include his desire to see new bills on his desk;
gays in the military and universal health care."

"Nothing like shooting for the stars." Ainsley noted.

"It's a challenge." Sam agreed. "Will you help me?"

Ainsley saw a spark in Sam's eyes that had been missing earlier; a
sense of purpose?

"Sure. Give me another 20 minutes or so to finish this and then you
can show me what you've got."

"Okay." Sam opened his laptop, rolled up his sleeves, and
prepared to get to work.

"Hold on a second." Josh requested. "I'd like to stop in
my office a minute."

The agents with them nodded their approval and moved ahead in that
direction.

"Josh, we don't have to do this right now." Donna reminded
him.

"I know, but I want to, okay?"

"Okay."

The first agent opened the closed office door and after a cursory
examination, stepped aside to let Josh and Donna enter, then waited
outside the office to give them some privacy. Things had been cleaned up
since they'd been there last. It was much too clean and neat to have
been inhabited by Josh Lyman.

"Looks like they wrecked my organizational system." Josh
attempted to joke and earned a half smile from Donna. "It will take
me weeks to get things back the way they were."

"You've already decided, then?" Donna asked. "About
coming back?"

"Not for certain; I mean we haven't discussed it yet, for one
thing." Josh sent her a dimpled grin. "But I don't know that
I have much choice. Where else could I work? What else could I do? There
aren't going to be a lot of people clamoring to hire me after the
press I've been getting."

"Josh..."

"It's true Donna. The President may not even be able to keep me
on board for long. I should take it while it's still on the table.
Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah. That's okay with me. But I think we should consider
changing offices." She shuddered as she looked around; remembering
the last time she had been in here with Josh.

"I don't know...maybe we should just work on creating some new
memories in here." Josh suggested and tugged her closer for a kiss.
"There are a lot of unresolved fantasies I have of being in here
with you, like this." He kissed her a little deeper and felt her get
pulled into the kiss.

"I have a couple involving you and that chair." Donna admitted
when his mouth strayed to her ear. Josh was about to comment when a
knock on the door sent them both scurrying apart one second before C.J.
came in.

"God, are you two a sight for sore eyes!" she exclaimed and gave
them both hugs. "Toby's finishing up my statement, so I've
only got a few minutes, but I had to come see you both."

"You've got be experiencing major league migraines these
days." Donna noted.

"Tylenol is my friend." She quipped. "Is there anything
either of you would like me say in there?"

"Thank the F.B.I. agents and Secret Service agents for their
exceptional work." Josh told her then looked at Donna for her input.

"Yes, and the President for his support." Donna added.

"I'll include it at the top." C.J. told them. "Listen,
Josh, you need to think about something; not today, not tomorrow, but
soon."

"I'm not doing a sit down, C.J." Josh stated.

"You should do a sit down, Josh." C.J. continued as if he
hadn't spoken. "Take some time, think about it, then tell me who
you'd be most comfortable sitting down with. Go get some rest."
She quickly left before Josh could respond.

"I'm not doing a sit down." Josh repeated.

"I'm not asking you to."

"SHE'S asking me to."

"No, she asking you to think about it." Donna corrected.
"And you should...think about it. But for now, we should listen to
the several million people who are suggesting we go home and rest."

"Rest? From what? The long drive from the safe house where we were
resting previously?"

"From the tremendous emotional stress of the past few days...the
past few weeks." She corrected herself and put her arm through
Josh's. "Take me home, Joshua."

Of all the things he'd heard in his life, that one phrase was among
the best of them.

"Home it is."

"Hey another great thing about the agents? We don't have to
drive." Donna noted. "No dealing with traffic or parking. That
alone makes it worth it to keep them around, don't you think?"

Josh chuckled. "I really do." He agreed. "Maybe we could go
incite Mary Marsh to do something violent and watch the agents take her
down."

"Now you're talking..." Donna told him.



"Commander, the President asked me to express his appreciation for
your assistance in this investigation." Sinclair told him as he took
a seat across the desk from Jacobson. Jacobson was staring at the
envelope Phillips had given him. At length, he picked it up and handed
it to Sinclair.

"You'll be needing this for evidence. Your man shouldn't
have left it with me. I could have been out the door 30 seconds behind
him." Jacobson noted.

"I know." Sinclair said, surprising the younger man. "Yet,
here you sit, waiting for me."

"That was some kind of test? You wanted to see if I'd do the
right thing?"

"I wanted you to see that you'd do the right thing."
Sinclair corrected. "I've made arrangements for your parents to
be flown in so you can talk to them in person here at the White
House."

" I...thank you, sir." Jacobson stammered.

"You can wait for them here. Then we'll have to move you."
Sinclair added as he picked up the hardware Jacobson had used to record
evidence on Phillips. "You need anything while you're
waiting?"

"No, sir. I'm fine." Jacobson hesitated. "Sir, can I
ask...I mean...why...?"

Sinclair got the gist of his question despite the lack of a full
sentence. He pulled out his wallet and turned it to the picture of a
grinning young man in his 20's.

"My big brother Andrew." Sinclair told him. "I thought the
sun rose and set on that kid. Our dad wasn't military, but he was a
cop; which in my book is almost as bad. His junior year in college he
wasn't quite as careful as he'd been the first two years and
rumors spread. So one night, when a herd of drunken asses got it in
their head to beat up a resident fag, they searched out Andrew. They
kept him alive in ICU for 11 hours; which was just long enough for us to
get there and say goodbye."

Jacobson, whose eyes had left Sinclair's and moved back to the
picture of Andrew, felt tears filling them. He handed the picture back
to Sinclair.

"I'm sorry." Darrel didn't know what else to say.

"Me too." Sinclair added. "Anyway, that's why. He's
also why I'm in law enforcement."

Sinclair opened the door to leave. "Be sure to catch the
President's speech tomorrow at 8 am. You're going to like
it."

********************************

"Donna, will you please tell my mother that I'm fine?" He
held the phone out to her.

"Ruth, his blood pressure it is a little high, but Dr. Bartlet just
left here and she isn't worried about it. He's not going back to
work for a few days yet, so he'll get plenty of rest." Donna
smiled at whatever Ruth was telling her. "I promise. Here's
Josh." She handed the phone back to Joshua.

"I told you, mom. Why do you believe Donna and not your only
son?"

"Experience." She replied. "If you're really not hurt,
why can't I see your face on TV anywhere?"

"I'm keeping a low profile." Josh answered. "Donna and I
are holed up at my place until this blows over. President Bartlet has
assigned a couple agents to keep an eye on us. We're fine."

"What about your promise, Joshua?"

"What promise?"

"To come to Connecticut once this was taken care of." Ruth
reminded him.

"I don't know that you could say this was `taken care
of' mom. There's still a lot to clear up."

"Don't mince words with me, Joshua."

"I'm not. I just-"

"Bring Donna and come out here."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Well, since I know what you're capable of, I'll expect to
see you both shortly. I love you."

"I love you, too." Josh hung up the phone sighing.

"You two certainly exhaust one another." Donna noted when she
joined him on the bed. The TV was on mute in the background; they were
waiting for the Presidential address.

"How would you feel about a short trip?" Josh broached the
subject cautiously.

"I go where you go." She replied and kissed him without another
question or comment.

"You're not going to even ask where or for how long?"

"Nope." She replied and kissed him again with a little more
voltage. Being that Josh wasn't a morning person, it took him a
couple minutes before he realized what she was doing.

"Donna! That was sneaky!" he accused.

Donna rolled back over and sighed. "You can't blame me for
trying."

"Yes, I can. You know I want to see this live." Josh replied
turning the sound up on the TV.

"But Dr. Bartlet said you should try to keep your blood pressure
down and this is not going to help that cause." She argued as C.J.
prepared the press room for the President's address.

"I just want to see the speech and then I'll turn it off."
He promised.

"Ha! First the speech, then the spin, then the reaction to the
spin..."

"I promise." Josh assured her.

"Like you promised your mom we'd come to Connecticut?"

"Yes, and I'll keep both promises...I ...promise." Josh
finished lamely and Donna laughed.

"Fine; you watch the speech while I get online and book us
tickets."

"Deal." Josh agreed and kissed her once more before President
Bartlet took the podium.

"Good morning." He began. "The events of the past few days
have been unsettling to say the least. That members of our Government
would actively engage in illegal and unethical behavior sets a pallor on
everyone who works so diligently here to make a difference in the lives
of all Americans...But it does not define us; not as a Government and
not as a nation..."

****************************

"He sounds good." Ainsley determined. "You did well,
Cyrano."

"We did well, Roxanne." Sam corrected her. "We make a good
team. I do the writing and you do the eating."

"Uh-huh. You ate right along with me, Samuel." She popped a
piece of her donut in his mouth for emphasis.

"I needed the brain fuel." Sam countered.

"Looks like you found your reason to come back into work
tomorrow." Ainsley noted when the President announced Sam would be
taking point on Universal Health Care.

"Looks like I may have found more than one." He replied looking
steadily at his all night writing partner.

*****************************************

"We're officially off duty; have a drink with me Ron." Adam
Sinclair handed Ron a bottled beer. Ron hesitated briefly, then clinked
bottles with Adam.

"It was a pleasure to work with you Adam. You've got a tight
team." Ron declared. "That comes from solid leadership."

"You too." Adam returned the compliment. "We're going to
be doing paperwork on this one until we're grey, you know."

"Yeah, I kind of figured." Ron muttered. "We're
re-evaluating our appointment tag process. Obviously, that's a weak
link for us."

"I'd be happy to look at that with you."

"I'd appreciate it." Ron answered.

"Ron, it was a massive conspiracy, there wasn't a big red flag,
or even a small red flag for that matter. Not until Josh Lyman; and you
were the first one to pick up on that." Adam had a feeling Ron was
taking this as a personal failure.

"It is my job to see that the White House is secure."

"It's your job to see that the President is secure. As far as I
could tell during that stirring speech he gave earlier, he alive and
well."

"Adam-"

"Mistakes were made. We're going to figure them out and correct
them. That analysis and this experience is going to make us all better
at what we do."

"In your humble opinion?" Ron smiled.

"Maybe not so much humble..." Adam returned the smile. "I
need some sleep. I'm going home. You should too. We'll look at
this fresh in the morning." Adam got up and chugged the rest of his
beer.

"Will do. Just do me a favor and take a cab home?" Ron
requested.

"I'll do you one better. My lovely wife is picking me up at the
gate." Adam's eyebrows wiggled. "See you tomorrow."

*********************************

"Hey, you're back!" Sam slapped Josh on the shoulder.
"Leo's been blustering around for days. It's not safe
anywhere in the West Wing. Where's Donna?"

"She's in with C.J." Josh informed him. "Did you get my
message about the speech? It was amazing; lofty and inspiring. You
outdid yourself. Toby must have chewed several fingers off."

"Surprisingly, he remained pretty calm." Sam told him.
"Ainsley and I worked on it together."

"Ainsley Hayes? You worked on a Presidential address with the blond
Republican?"

"She not just- Wait a second!" Sam protested and stopped in his
tracks.

"Yes?" Josh stopped with him, amused.

"You are...(Sam lowered his voice) romantically involved with your
senior assistant and you're giving me grief about Ainsley?"

"Well, yeah...she's a Republican!" Josh continued to yank
his friend's chain.

"She's a smart, funny, dedicated public servant and we are damn
lucky yo have her working here!"

"Yes, we are." Josh agreed and kept walking.

"Yes, we are. And I'll tell you another thing- Did you just say
`yes, we are'?"

"I did and we are."

Sam watched his friend carefully as they walked into Josh's office.
"You're not just saying that to get out of what I said about you
and Donna?"

"Nope. Besides, the thing with me and Donna isn't a problem
anymore."

"Oh really? And why is that?"

"Because while there are several rules about working with someone
you're dating in the White House, there are no rules about working
with someone you're married to." Josh grinned so big his dimples
popped out and Sam's jaw dropped.

"You didn't!" he accused.

"I did. It cost me $30 bucks and 2 round trip plane tickets from
Wisconsin, but I did it."

"It cost who $30 bucks?" Donna asked as she breezed in to his
office with several files on gays in the military.

"Okay, it cost Donna $30 bucks." Josh admitted and Sam smacked
his friend on the head with his notepad.

"You made Donna pay for the marriage license?" Sam asked
indignantly. "Have I taught you nothing?"

"They didn't take credit cards and you know I don't carry
cash." Josh defended himself. "I paid for a very nice honeymoon
suite."

"That was very nice." Donna agreed smiling. Sam looked back and
forth between them.

"Well I guess congratulations are in order; at least for Josh.
Donna, you get my heartfelt sympathy." He gave them both hugs.

"What did C.J. say?" Josh asked his wife.

"She'll set it up with Chris Matthews for tomorrow. She also
wants you to clear 2 hours on your schedule to prep with her."

"I don't need to prep for a sit down with Matthews." Josh
claimed.

"Yes, you do." Sam and Donna answered simultaneously.

"I expect this from him." Josh jerked his thumb at Sam. "But
aren't you supposed to do the supportive wife thing?"

"Not while we're at work. You know the rules." Donna said
primly. "You have staff in 5 minutes and rumor has it Leo is already
pissed, so I'd get moving if I were you."

"Yes, ma'am." Josh smiled but stole a kiss on his way out.

He and Sam did their walk and talk while they traveled to Leo's
office. Sam brought him up to speed on the new health care bill and what
had been happening on the hill in the wake of the resignations in
Congress. They certainly had their work cut out for them.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Lyman." Leo said sarcastically
once Josh and Sam got to the meeting.

"Hey, I'm 5 minutes early!" Josh defended himself.

"You're 3 days late." Leo corrected and motioned for the
group to follow him into the Oval.

"Sorry, Leo, I promised Donna we'd at least have a short
Honeymoon." Josh proclaimed while he followed his boss.

"A Honeymoon?" The President picked up on the last word.
"Josh Lyman, did you take advantage of this enforced time off to get
that innocent young woman to marry you?"

"I did, sir."

"Good for you. Congratulations. Have Donna stop by later so I can
tell her how happy I am in person."

"Yes, sir."

Toby and C.J. who had heard the news already just smiled while Leo
squirmed.

"Great. Good. Can we move on to the business of running a country
now?" He groused.

"Have you no romance in your soul, Leo." The President asked.

"None that I've been able to detect, sir."

"Fine. I hear C.J.'s arranging for a sit down with Josh and
Chris Matthews."

"Yes, sir." C.J. responded. "That will give Josh a chance to
tell people about his experience and give a plug for the new bill
he's working on. Public support has been very high. It may take
awhile for Congress to catch up with them, being that they're a
lower form of life, but I'm confident it can be done, over
time."

"I've got 3 sponsors in the Senate and 8 in the House for the
Lyman health initiative." Sam announced and would have sworn his
friend blushed. Sam had argued for the name vigorously. He felt if the
bill and the man, were going to be rehabilitated in public and
Congressional opinion, they couldn't sever the link; they had to
build on it.

"Can I just say what a stupid name that is one more time?" Toby
joked to ease the tension that had dropped into the Oval office.

"Next time you're almost killed writing a speech, we'll name
it after you." C.J. promised.

"Josh?" The President asked him his opinion with one word.
Everyone was making plans for and about him, but no one was asking him
if he was ready for all this.

"What's next?" Josh replied meeting the eyes of the
President.

The End.