TWW Ficlet: Horrible Liar

Fandom: The West Wing
Title: Horrible Liar
Rated: R for language
Characters: Toby, Josh (re: Josh/Donna)
Notes: This takes place during Faith-Based Initiative, before Santos
shows up saying he's going to run if Josh joins him.


[ horrible liar ]
by kHo


Josh looked up from his papers and watched Toby circling his door in
confusion. "You gonna come in or are you tunneling a hole to China?"

Toby smiled and shrugged, looking behind him. "Just making sure your
temp-secretary-from-hell isn't going to come at me with a stun gun and
a can of mace."

Josh laughed, standing up and waving him in. "Come in," he said,
laughing again and shutting the door behind Toby. "What's up?"

Toby took a deep breath, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Have you
called Donna yet?"

Josh felt his spirits take a dip and blew out a puff of air. "Toby,
could you drop that?"

"I just want to know," Toby said, avoiding his eyes. "Have you talked
to her? Has she called you?"

Josh sighed, sinking into his chair. "No. To all of the above."

Toby nodded, clasping his hands behind his back. "Listen," he said,
pausing and looking out of Josh's window. "Listen, Josh--"

Josh couldn't help but laugh. "God, Toby, just spit it out. I know you
want me to call her, you know I'm not going to. It hasn't stopped you
from trying to get me to, so what's so hard about saying it now?"

"I'm not trying to get you to..." Toby sighed, sitting in the chair
opposite Josh's desk. "Listen."

Josh sighed, sitting back in his seat. "I am. I have been for the past
five minutes, but all you've managed to say is 'listen'."

Toby nodded, clearing his throat. "I'm about to go to the hill to talk
to Wilkonson, but I wanted to talk to you first."

Josh nodded. "Strategizing session?"

Toby shook his head. "No. No, it's about something else."

Josh frowned, tapping his pen against the desk. "Okay."

"Donna's working for Will," Toby said, finally meeting his eyes. "She
came to him, he was abundantly clear on that, and she is now working
for the Russell for President campaign."

Josh stared at him for a moment, not even breathing. "She what?"

Toby sighed, reaching up and tugging on his tie, which suddenly seemed
tighter around his neck. "She's working for Russell."

Letting out a slow breath Josh looked down at the papers he had been
working on before. "Since when," he asked, raising his gaze to look
back at Toby.

"Since today," Toby said, his voice quiet and somewhere along the
lines of sympathetic. "He just told me."

"He."

Toby nodded. "Will."

Josh nodded, resting his hands palms down on the desk. "Donna's
working for Will?"

Toby shrugged. "It's unclear if she's working for him or working for
Russell. I think she's more on the same level as Will as opposed to
working for him."

Josh took a deep breath, leaning forward and staring at his desk. "Right. Okay."

Toby sighed, smoothing his pants down with his fingers. "You okay?"

Josh looked at him, quirking an eyebrow up. "I'm fine."

Toby nodded. "Should I have told you?"

Josh shook his head. "It's fine. I'm fine."

"I didn't want you to just wander over there one day and be ambushed by--"

Josh shook his head, holding up his hands. "Fine, Toby."

Toby nodded. "You know, you're a horrible liar."

Josh sighed, folding his arms on his desk. "What?"

Toby laughed, looking away. "You're not fine, Josh. This is Donna
we're talking about."

Josh rolled his eyes, picking up his pen and jotting down a few notes
on the paper he was working on. "Yeah, it's Donna. And I'm sad she
left. But she wanted to move up and she's moved up. So good for her."

Toby looked at him, tilting his head to the side. "Yeah. You're still
a horrible liar."

"I'm not lying Toby!" Josh sighed, throwing his hands up in the air.
"What do you want from me? I'm happy for her if this is what she
wants."

"Josh," Toby said, his voice low and barely audible. He leaned
forward, resting his elbows on Josh's desk. "You're in love with
Donna, and she's working for the guy you can't stand. You're not
fine."

Josh laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not in love with Donna."

Toby sighed, shaking his head. "Give it up, Josh."

"I'm not," Josh said. "You know what this is? It's disappointing is
what it is. I know there have always been rumors about me and Donna,
but I can't believe you of all people--"

"I don't give a damn about rumors," Toby shouted, his eyes darting
around before his voice dipped as he continued. "I don't give a damn
about rumors, Josh, you're in love with Donna. I know you are."

"Oh, really," Josh asked, smirking at him. "Have you been reading my
diary? Did you listen in on my call to Mrs. Cleo?"

"No," Toby said, shaking his head. "I watched your heart break in that
instant you thought she might be dead when her car blew up in Gaza. I
watched you drop every thing on your plate, grab your backpack, and
practically run to the airport for the first plane to Germany."

Josh swallowed and tightened his grip around his pen to stop his hand
from shaking. "I care about her."

"Yeah," Toby said, nodding his head. "You love her."

"She's my assistant. She's worked for me for 8 years."

Toby nodded again. "And you love her."

Josh shook his head, blinking slowly. "I don't."

"Do you know what you looked like that day, Josh," Toby asked,
lowering his voice even more. "Do you know the pure fear you had in
your eyes? You know how I know you love Donna? Because that's exactly
how I felt when I realized it could have been Andy."

Josh swallowed again, looking down. "Toby--"

"I'm outing you, Josh," Toby said. "I'm outing you because you don't
talk about it to anyone, and it's ripping you apart. And yeah, I don't
exactly talk about things either but. You've been there for me, and
I'm gonna do the same. So I'm gonna say yeah, I know."

Josh shook his head. "Nothing happened. I didn't mean to."

Toby smiled. "I know."

"Nothing happened," Josh said again, looking at him with fear in his
eyes. "I didn't take advantage of her, I didn't do anything wrong. I
can't help how I feel Toby."

Toby nodded. "I know."

"I can't help it," Josh whispered, leaning forward further. "I didn't
mean to fall in love with her it just happened."

"I'm not your coworker right now, Josh," Toby said, meeting his gaze.
"I'm not gonna lecture you on the impropriety of interoffice
relationships. I'm just saying, I know. And I know it's a hard pill to
swallow that she left you, and it's an even harder one to swallow that
she's working for Russell. But look on the bright side. She doesn't
work for you now. You should tell her how you feel."

Josh shook his head. "I can't."

"Call her. Tell her."

Josh shook his head again. "She left me, Toby. She's pissed at me. I
can't. I waited too long."

Toby shook his head. "You don't know that."

Josh looked away, blinking rapidly and squinting out of his window.
"Yeah I do," he said quietly.

Toby sighed, looking at his watch. "Tell her."

Josh shook his head, looking back down at the stack of papers on his
desk as they blurred in front of his eyes. "It's too late."

"It's never too late," Toby said, standing up. "Tell her you love her
and see that for yourself."

Josh laughed, clearing his throat. "Leave me alone," he said. "I
can't, okay? I'm the victim here. Maybe if she comes to me first, I
will. Maybe if she decides to let me in on what I did to piss her off,
I will. Maybe if she decides to tell me why she left me after I flew
thousands of miles to watch her in a hospital bed worried fucking sick
that she was gonna..." He trailed off, shaking his head and looking
away. "Maybe then I'll tell her."

Toby leaned on the back of the chair, watching Josh trying to regain
his composure. "Josh."

Josh shook his head. "No, Toby. Please, drop it for now."

"Okay," Toby said, sighing and shrugging his shoulders. "I had to give
it a shot, Josh."

Josh laughed. "Yeah. Go to your meeting."

Toby nodded, turning and walking to the door, stopping short of it and
laughing. "It's just... she loves you too," he said, turning back
around. "We all know that. We've always known that. She loves you too,
so I don't see how you telling her--"

"I can't do this right now, Toby," Josh said, grinding his teeth.
"Maybe when I'm not trying to save this bill, I can talk about it
okay? Maybe tonight we'll go out for beers and I'll sob in my whiskey
about the girl that got away and you can be big brother come to save
me--"

Toby rolled his eyes. "Josh--"

"I can't! I have all this shit to do, Toby," he said, his voice
desperate, pleading with Toby to drop it. "I can't think about this
and do this at the same time. I have to shut it off okay? I have to
leave it alone for now."

Toby nodded. "Okay."

Josh studied him for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

"I'm just saying--"

Josh laughed and sunk into his chair. "Toby!"

Toby raised his hands. "I'm just saying this sucks, okay?"

Josh's laugh turned real and he smiled at Toby, nodding his head.
"Don't have to tell me that."

Toby nodded. "Alright. Do good, alright? I'm going up to the hill."

"Yeah," Josh said, nodding and leaning back over his papers. "Good luck."

"You too," Toby said, walking out of his office. "And beers sound
good, alright?"

Josh chewed on his lip, looking up at Toby. "We'll see."

Toby nodded. "Yeah."

Josh smiled. "Bye."

Toby laughed again, nodding his head. "Bye."