TWW Ficlet: It's Not Personal, It's Politics

Fandom: The West Wing
Title: It's Not Personal, It's Politics
Rated: R, language
Characters: Leo, Josh
Notes: this is for teddibear, because I asked for Leo ideas, and she
gave this one. It's not exactly what she said, but it's close, and
it's how it came to me. Set after the season 5 Constituency of One
through Shut Down



[ it's not personal, it's politics ]
by kHo

Margaret tapped on his door and stepped in, clasping her hands
together and looking at the floor. "Leo? Josh is here."

Leo looked up, frowning at her discomfort. "Margaret? Is something wrong?"

She looked up then, meeting his eyes. "He's pissed, Leo."

Leo nodded. "I expected as much."

Margaret shifted from foot to foot. "May I say something, sir?"

Leo frowned, taking off his glasses and setting them on the desk. "If
you absolutely must," he said, the beginnings of a smirk appearing at
the corners of his mouth."

She stepped forward, clearing her throat. "Leo, it's just... I think
he's more hurt than anything else."

Leo's eyebrows rose. "Is that all, Margaret?"

She shook her head, stepping forward again. "I just think maybe you've
been kind of hard on him, overly hard, and maybe this time you
could--"

His frown deepened. "Margaret," he said warningly.

"Be a little more human," she said, stepping back and looking
apologetic. "You know. Remember he's Josh for a minute there."

He stood up, glaring at her. "Margaret!"

"I could hear you, you know," she said, lowering her voice almost as
if to make up for him having yelled. "The walls aren't that thick. You
were awfully hard on him for something you told him he could do to
begin with."

"What are you, his mother," Leo asked, cocking his head to the side.
"What business of yours is this?"

"It's not," she said, stepping over to the door and placing her hand
on the doorknob. "Just giving my opinion, sir."

"Well when I want it, Margaret, I'll ask for it," he said sternly,
pointing towards the door. "Go tell Josh to come in here."

Margaret opened the door and nodded at Josh, holding the door open for
him. Before shutting the door behind her she glared at Leo over Josh's
shoulder. When Josh caught Leo's expression he looked back at her and
she smiled, nodding and closing the door finally.

"What can I do for you, Josh," Leo asked, sitting once again at his desk.

"I don't know," Josh said, keeping his face purposefully neutral. "Is
there something I can do for you?"

Leo shook his head, turning his attention back to the work on his desk
and putting his glasses on once again. "You're the one who came in
here Josh, you tell me--"

"No, I mean, is there something I can do to prove to you that I can
actually do my job again," Josh said, his voice harsh and terse as he
stepped up to Leo's desk. "Since you seem to have lost your faith in
me."

Leo looked up at him, frowning in surprise. "I haven't lost faith in you."

Josh laughed, throwing out his arms. "Right. You just benched me and
replaced me with Angela Blake!"

"I didn't replace you," Leo said, turning his gaze back to the papers
on his desk. "I just thought perhaps Angela Blake could get further on
the--"

"Who let me back in," Josh asked, stepping right up to Leo's desk and
planting his hands on top of the papers Leo was studying. "You, or the
President?"

Leo looked up at him. "Josh, it doesn't--"

"Who, Leo?!"

Leo's mouth worked open before he shut it and took his glasses back
off, setting them to the side. "The President."

Josh nodded, stepping back and looking at Leo, his expression wounded.
"And you, Leo? If it had been up to you, would you have let me back
in?"

Leo frowned. "Josh--"

"Would you have," Josh asked, obviously not having the patience to
deal with Leo's reticence to answer the question.

"No."

Josh nodded, looking away and crossing his arms in front of him. "Leo,
do you want me to resign?"

Leo's eyebrows rose. "What?"

Josh rolled his eyes. "Leo, do you or do you not think I can do my
job," he asked, his voice raising. "Because if you don't, would you
prefer for me to resign? Because I don't want to sit here doing
nothing because it means I get to keep my title. I'd rather find a job
elsewhere."

"I don't want you to resign, Josh," Leo said, shaking his head in
wonder. "Of course I don't want you to do that."

"Of course," Josh asked, raising his eyebrows and laughing bitterly.
"Of course you don't? How the hell am I supposed to know that?"

Leo rocked back in his chair, staring up at Josh as he paced angrily
from side to side, periodically running his hand through his hair.
"Josh. You knew it was temporary right? This Carrick thing--"

"I know," Josh spat out, waving his hand. "The Carrick thing was a
huge set back. I fucked up, Leo. I fucked it up bad."

Leo nodded. "So you had to expect a little punishment, Josh. I
couldn't just let that go."

Josh nodded, laughing to himself. "A little punishment, huh," he
asked, looking at Leo and stopping in his tracks. "Leo, I walked
around here waiting for you to fire me for a week. Just waiting for
it. Like a god damned puppy with his tail tucked between his legs!"

Leo looks down for a moment, pushing his paperwork aside and looking
back up at Josh. "Josh, I wasn't going to fire you. I wouldn't have."

"You replaced me, Leo!" Josh throws his hands out, glaring at him, his
eyes wild and furious. "You replaced me in the budget negotiations,
and you even let Donna sit in on them! You let my assistant sit in on
the meeting that I've been working on for fucking ever, and you didn't
let me!"

Leo frowned. "Donna played an important part in that meeting--"

"I know that, Leo!" Josh sighed heavily and threw himself down in the
chair opposite Leo's desk, looking forlornly out of Leo's window. "It
was like a slap in the face, Leo," he said in defeat. "Donna can do
this, we trust Donna. You, not so much."

Leo shook his head. "I apologize if that's what it felt like, Josh.
Donna was necessary."

Josh nodded, smiling sarcastically. "But I wasn't."

"Angela is good, Josh," Leo said softly, feeling regret seep down into
his bones at the look of utter devastation on Josh's face. "Not better
than you, Josh. Just not as thinly spread."

Josh snorted. "The thinly spread argument again."

"You are, you know," Leo said, leaning forward and planting his elbows
on the desk. "You've had a whole lot more on your plate than is fair
to you for far too long--"

"Yeah, and isn't the timing on that just a little too convenient,"
Josh asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Funny how you don't mention my
having been spread thin until I screw up the Carrick thing."

Leo sighed, shaking his head. "Josh you're taking this way too personally--"

"Oh, it's not personal, it's politics," Josh said, sneering at him.
"Yeah. Gotcha."

Leo sighed again, looking down. "If it makes you feel any better,
you've always been the President's Golden Boy," he said softly. "Now
more than ever."

Josh shook his head, leaning it back against the back of his chair.
"Golden Boy."

Leo nodded. "His pit bull. The one he can count on to bear all his
teeth and get the job done."

Josh sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "And you, Leo," he asked
softly. "What am I to you?"

Leo shook his head. "I'm not the President, Josh. It doesn't matter what--"

"It does matter, Leo," Josh said, looking over at him from the corner
of his eye. "It matters."

Leo frowned, looking at him. "Listen."

"It matters more," Josh said, sitting up. "And do you know why? You're
the reason I got into politics to begin with. And because my father's
dead, okay? So who else do I have?"

Leo felt his stomach drop to his knees, his heart get caught up in his
throat. "What?"

"Forget it," Josh said, shaking his head and standing up. "I'll just...
I'll go back to work now. Thank you for your time."

Leo stood up, his eyes wide and called out for Josh to stop. "I'm the
reason you got into politics?"

Josh paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Yeah," he said with a
small smile. "And don't think it wasn't a fight with my father. He
wanted me to be a lawyer."

Leo shook his head. "God why?"

"Why did he want me to be a lawyer," Josh asked, his eyebrows rising
in question.

"Why did I make you want to be a politician," Leo asked, his voice
soft, his breath having been knocked out of his lungs.

Josh walked back over to his desk, shrugging. "Because you did things,
Leo. You made laws. You enforced them. You shaped the world. Or,
anyway, you were a part of it." He shrugged again, taking another step
forward. "And you always said what you wanted to say, you weren't like
the rest of them. You made me see they weren't all full of shit."

Leo shook his head. "Josh."

"Anyway," Josh said with a shrug and a small sad smile. "I'm sorry I
disappointed you Leo. It won't happen again."

"I used to go to sleep at night and hope one day you'd marry Mallory,"
Leo said as Josh started towards the door again. "I used to pray the
two of you would fall in love."

Josh turned to look at him, his expression nothing less than
flabbergasted. "What?"

Leo smiled, nodding. "Jenny and I used to talk about it. What a
wonderful husband you'd be. An even better father."

Josh stepped forward, looking even closer to tears than he had mere
minutes before. "Leo--"

"You were passionate, and forthright, and loving." Leo took a deep
breath, shaking his head. "I used to say that if I couldn't have a son
like you, I wanted to have you for a son-in-law."

Josh shook his head. "What?"

Leo laughed, walking around to the same side of the desk as Josh. "Are
you understanding what I'm saying to you, Josh? Have you gotten past
that buzzing in your ears?"

Josh smiled slightly, shaking his head. "No. They're really kind of
loud right now."

Leo leaned against his desk, perching his ass on the edge. "You were
always the son I never had," he said, smiling. "And that's a clich‚
I've never been fond of, but if the shoe fits..."

Josh shook his head, stepping forward. "Leo, I--"

"Oh, don't ruin it by talking over it," Leo said, waving his hand.
"You and Mal would never work. Wouldn't be fair to either of you."

Josh laughed. "She's rip me apart on a daily basis."

Leo nodded, his smile widening. "That's my Mal."

Josh took a deep breath. "Leo, you're as close to a father to me as
you can be," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "Since my Dad
died, you've been--"

Leo looked down, clearing his throat. "Seriously, Josh. You don't need
to say it."

"I've needed you more than you probably know," Josh continued. "And
you've always been there."

Leo smiled softly. "I knew."

Josh nodded. "You always did."

Leo sighed, reaching out and putting a hand on Josh's shoulder.
"You're taking this too personally. I can't be-- whatever you want to
call me-- and your boss at the same time all the time. Sometimes I
have to push aside any personal feelings I have about you and do what
needs to be done." He paused, smiling and patting Josh's shoulder
before letting his hand fall. "But don't think that anything you do
could disappoint me in the man you've become."

Josh blinked, looking down and stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Thank you, Leo."

"Come here," Leo said, opening his arms and smiling at Josh. "And this
time, yes, I do want a hug."

Josh smiled and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Leo's frame.
"I won't let you down again, Leo."

"You can't promise me that, Josh," Leo said with a final squeeze
before letting him go. "But I know you'll do your best to not."

Josh let out a sigh of relief, smiling and running his hand through
his hair one final time. "Hey Leo?"

Leo paused on his way back to his desk, frowning at him. "Yeah, kid?"

Josh smiled. "Don't tell the President I said I value your opinion more, okay?"

Leo grinned. "Do I look stupid to you, Josh?"