Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (cam7192003@yahoo.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

"Donnatella, I thought one of the advantages of being the DNC Chair
was that I was guaranteed a dance with the wife of the Chief of
Staff?" Bob Meyers teased.

"I'm sorry, Bob, you know how these things get." Donna
apologized. These `things' were fundraising dinners and Donna,
for one, was sick to death of them. She was looking forward to when her
husband resigned his position and these `things' were no longer
mandatory appearances for them.

"How's the baby?" Bob asked politely.

"Hardly a baby anymore." Donna laughed. Their son, Nate, was a
constant source of joy and activity. "He turns 2 next month. Now
comes the toddler years; the terrible two's."

"Don't you believe it. That's a great age. When my kids were
that age I couldn't wait to get home to see what new word or skill
they'd picked up that day. They grow so fast."

"They really do. I've been happy that Mrs. Santos is comfortable
with me cutting down on my hours so I can spend more time with him."
Donna admitted honestly. "We really struggle to make sure we have
family time."

"But you're doing it. That's what counts." Bob told her.
"Tell me the truth, Donna, is there any way you'd use your
influence to get Josh to re-consider my offer?"

"You should know by now that my influence is extremely limited. What
offer are you referring to?" Donna asked as she sipped her drink.

"The senate seat in Connecticut." Donna nearly spit out her
drink at her colleague's reply. Bob obligingly patted her back to
help her avoid choking.

"You okay, Donna?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Would you excuse me for a minute?"
Donna asked as she moved away. She started towards the ladies room, then
detoured to go outside to escape the crowd. It was still warm and humid
outside; Virginia in August was plenty hot and humid. It didn't take
as long as she thought it would for her husband to find her.

"Donna? Are you okay?" Josh asked concerned. She didn't turn
around to face him.

"Fine." was her clipped reply. Now, Josh and Donna had been
married barely 3 years, but he had learned some valuable lessons during
that time. One of the lessons he had learned was that when his wife said
she was `fine' in that tone of voice, she was anything but fine.

"Can we go now?" Donna asked, still not looking at Josh.
"I'm tired."

"Ah-kay. Let's say good-bye to the Ryerson's and we'll
go." Donna nodded her head and joined her husband in saying goodbye
to their hosts. She continued to be silent though, all the way home.
Josh knew from experience, that she preferred not to discuss personal
issues while they were in the care with his detail, but still, not one
word about anything from her.

Once they got home, Josh paid the sitter while Donna went to check on
Nate. Josh found her looking at their son sleeping in his crib.

He came up behind her and put his arms around her.

"Can you even believe he's going to be 2?" he said
incredulously.

"I really can't. Bob was telling me how much he enjoyed his kids
at this age. It made me wish he could stay just like this a little
longer." She moved out of his arms and went into their bedroom to
get ready for bed.

"Donna, what's wrong?" Josh asked her quietly.

"When were you going to tell me about the senate seat?"

Josh shook his head. He should have known better than to keep it from
her.

"I didn't tell you, because there's nothing to tell. I said
`no'." Josh told her as he took off his jacket and tie;
dropping them on the chair. Three years of marriage had not improved his
neatness, and Donna habitually picked the items up from the chair only
moments after he dropped them.

"But you didn't tell me." Donna repeated.

"I'm supposed to tell you every implausible job offer I'm
given? We'd never have time to discuss anything else."

"But you always have." Donna insisted. "You always tell me
about the ridiculous, far fetched offers you get and this one you never
mentioned."

"Is it so ridiculous and far fetched and idea...that I could take
back the senate seat?"

"No, no it isn't. That's precisely my point. With your
experience and the DNC backing you, I have no doubt you could do it. But
the thing is; we made a deal."

"I know this, Donnatella. I said, `no'."

"But you didn't want to. And somewhere in the back of your head,
you're thinking about it; turning it over and over in that brilliant
brain of yours." Donna noted as she put her arms around her husband.

"See, it sounds like you're complimenting me, but-"

"Josh, I'm worried about you, about your health. The doctor said
that too much stress-"

"I know what the doctor said and I know what are agreement was."

"Is. What our agreement is." Donna corrected.

"Is. I work through the re-election and then I resign; do
consulting. The President is on board with it, I'm on board with it.
Everyone is on board with it. Don't worry, okay?"

"It's my job to worry about you." Donna told him as she
pulled him to bed. "Let's get some sleep. I'm so tired and
Nate will be up with the sun."

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

"Da, da, da, da..." Nate called at a little after 6 AM.

"He's calling you." Donna nudged her husband.

"Maybe he'll go back to sleep." Josh said hopefully.

"DA,DA!" Nate got louder.

"Remember how excited you were when he first said that?" Donna
teased.

"Yeah, the bloom is off that rose." Josh groused as he got up to
get his son. He didn't like the early rising, but he still did get a
thrill when he heard his son calling for him. His only regret was that
his Father never got to meet Nate. He would have loved Nathan. Not that
his Mother didn't spoil him sufficiently for any 4 grandparents, but
his Dad...there is just something special about a Grandfather/Grandson
relationship.

"Morning, Nate. Ready to get up?"

"Da, da!" Nate squealed and held out his arms for his Dad to
pick him up. Josh returned the morning hug and noted that pretty soon
Nate would be climbing out of that crib on his own.

He snuck back into their bedroom and dropped a giggling Nate right on
top of Donna.

"Ooomph." She cried out as he landed on her. "Who is that
waking me up so early?"

"Nate!" he replied happily and settled between his two parents.
This was what he liked best, snuggling with his Mom and Dad with
tickling and kisses everywhere. He remained satisfied with the status
quo for a few minutes before demanding, `eat!' The Lymans got up
and had a leisurely Saturday morning breakfast. Donna even managed to
get both her men to eat some fruit with their pancakes and cereal. It
wasn't until nearly noon that the phone rang and Josh was called
into the sit room. Donna sighed and walked him to the door as he gave
Nate a hug goodbye.

"Call me when you get an idea of how long you'll be?" Donna
yawned.

"Sure. You and Nate go take a nap. I'll probably be done before
you're up." Josh gave his wife a kiss as his detail pulled the
town car up to the door. "You know, if I worked in the Senate, I
wouldn't have all these urgent pages and meetings..." he smirked
and Donna smacked him.

"Yes, you'd have a lot of free time, seeing as how I'd
divorce you when you broke our deal."

"You couldn't live without me, Donnatella, admit it." He
pulled her close for another kiss.

"I could give it a try." She teased back. "But I
wouldn't want to." She straightened his tie and watched as he
climbed into the car, giving her a quick wave.

"Da-da go?" Nate asked his mom.

"Yes, for a little while. Let's go read some "Pooh Bear"
before nap." Donna answered.

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

"Thanks, Josh."

"Your welcome, Mr. President."

"What have you got planned for the rest of your day?" Matt
Santos asked.

"Donna has yard work on the schedule, but I'm hoping she's
started without me." It was a running joke that Josh would risk
starting an international incident if it meant getting him out of yard
work. Regardless of what he told others, he was not an outdoorsman.

"Is Donna okay? Helen said she's been unusually quiet lately,
and I noticed you left the party early."

"She's fine. She wasn't very pleased to learn about the
DNC's Senate proposal, that's all."

"I can understand that. I think Helen was ready to kill both of us
when you talked me into running for President. She was just getting
excited about private life when you came along." Matt recollected.

"Donna's feeling the same way, I think." Josh told him.
"And it didn't help that she heard the news from Bob instead of
me."

"That'll do it." Matt agreed. "You should still think
about it, Josh. You'd make a good Senator, and it would be a lot
less stress than working as my Chief of Staff."

"I don't think Donna would go for it, sir. And in the end,
that's what matters most to me."

"But if she were on board, you'd consider it?" he inquired.

"What, Bob's got you shilling for him now?" Josh returned.

"Just looking out for the party. We have a good shot and taking back
Congress this time."

"Looking out for a smoother second term, you mean. Having a
Democratic Congress would be a cake walk for you, sir."

"I didn't say there wasn't an upside for me, too."

"Right. Have a good evening, sir." Josh told him as he left.
Josh walked through the door from the Oval to his office. He looked at
the pictures on his desk; some from the Bartlett administration, some
from the Santos administration, but all of them with his family, Donna
and then Nate too. He couldn't go back on his word to her. She was
counting heavily on having some time alone as a family once he resigned.

Carol came in when she heard her boss rummaging around his office.

"I've got your talking points for the Sunday morning shows."
She told him. "Do you need the latest agriculture figures, too?"

"Yeah, I guess." Josh said half-heartedly. "Tell me again
why Sam isn't doing this?"

"It's his Anniversary weekend away with Ainsley." Carol
replied as she spread out the papers he needed on his desk.

"Oh, yeah." Josh recalled. "Then I'll excuse him this
once. Is this really my call sheet?"

"I put an asterisk next to the ones I thought should be returned
today. The rest can probably wait until Monday." She noted.

"But it's Saturday. How can this many people possible be calling
on a Saturday?" Josh demanded.

"You're the White House Chief of Staff, what did you
expect?" she said without looking up.

"I expected this to get easier at some point. All I do is put out
fires here." Josh muttered.

"Do you want me to get the Speaker on the line for you?" Carol
asked carefully.

"Why not? I'm not getting out of here anytime soon." Maybe
life would be better if he worked in the Senate. Donna might not agree
to the Senate seat, okay she would never agree to the Senate seat, but
maybe a senior advisor to the majority leader? God, if they could take
back the Congress...It could really be something.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Donna settled in to watch Josh do his thing on "Meet the Press".
She always felt so proud when she watched him passionately debate the
issues, but the truth was she just loved watching him period, and if the
only way she could spend Sunday morning with him was to watch him on TV,
then that's what she did. Nate was completely confused by his
father's appearance on the television. He would talk to and call to
his father, and was confused as to why his father wouldn't talk back
to him. Donna got some great video from the whole exchange, but
couldn't convince Nate that his Dad couldn't hear him.

"Good morning, I'm Tim Russert and if it's Sunday, it's
Meet the Press. Today's guest; White House Chief of Staff Joshua
Lyman, here to discuss the trade bill currently under consideration in
the Congress. Welcome, Josh."

"Thanks Tim. It's nice to be here."

"Tell us about why the Congress should pass this trade bill.
Isn't going to end up costing Americans thousands of jobs?"

"These aren't the jobs that are going to increase earning
potential of most Americans Tim. The President's top priority has
been to increase the average income of American workers so that they can
better afford to take care of their families while still being
competitive in the world market."

Tim quizzed Josh on various issues, and Josh was able to keep his cool,
even when the Republican Congressman from Mississippi tried to egg him
on. That was one thing that had improved dramatically since he became
Chief of Staff; Josh had learned not to let his opponents bait him. The
hour was almost up and Nate was begging for `juice' so Donna got
up to pour him some when she heard Tim's final question.

"Before we go, I have to take this opportunity to address a rumor
that's been traveling around the District. Is it true that
you'll be resigning as Chief of Staff to run for the Senate seat in
Connecticut?" Tim smiled as he asked and the audience could see the
look of surprise on Josh's face. He took a few seconds to regroup.

"Well, Tim, it's true that I'll be resigning as Chief of
Staff after re-election. I've told President Santos that it's
been a privilege to serve him, but this is my 3rd term in the White
House and I'm ready for a job that won't pull me away from my
wife and son so much."

"Like a job in the Senate?" Tim pushed further.

"I haven't made any specific plans yet. That's still a ways
down the road."

"So....not the Senate?" Tim tried again. Josh looked
distinctly uncomfortable. "Are you saying no one has approached you
about the Senate seat?"

"I'm saying that my career decisions haven't been made at
this time. I'll let you know once I figure it all out." Josh
promised.

"I would love to see Mr. Lyman run for the Senate seat in
Connecticut. Our party has a strong contender in Congressman LeVoy. A
match up between Congressman LeVoy and Mr. Lyman is something I could
sell tickets to." Congressman Nichols goaded.

"The Congressman from Mississippi is assuming facts not in
evidence." Josh retorted. "But that's hardly surprising
since that's the only way Republicans can win any argument."

"I think Mr. Lyman would find running for office a great deal more
challenging than running someone else's campaign. He's probably
right not to consider it. He's probably more cut out for directing
than for the lead role."

"See there, Tom, you're confusing the noble pursuit of ideals
through Governing, with a cheesy `B' movie. If you like, we can
stay after here, and I'll go over the differences with you."
Josh offered genially. Donna winced as she watched what she was sure was
about to be a train wreck, but Tim broke in and signed off. She exhaled
a sigh of relief when Nate drew her attention to the fact that the juice
was overflowing onto the floor.

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

"That was quite a show, baby." Donna commented as Josh came
through the door.

"That sanctimonious son of a bitch..." Josh trailed off as it
occurred to him that his son could be within earshot. Donna read his
expression perfectly.

"He's in the living room playing with his train." Donna
explained. "He liked seeing you on TV."

"Could you believe that bastard? `More cut out for directing
than a lead role' what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to get you riled up enough to say something
stupid so you couldn't run for anything in the future." Donna
replied as she took his suit coat off and loosened his tie.

"I would wipe the floor with LeVoy, Donna."

"I know." Donna sighed. "But that's really not the point
is it? It's all academic because you've already said
`no', right?"

"Right." Josh said unenthusiastically.

"I'm curious then, why you simply didn't say so on Meet the
Press." Donna looked him in the eye.

"I told him that I haven't made any decisions about my future
beyond the White House and that's the truth."

"I believe you. I just also believe that you're more tempted
than you're letting on about the Senate seat." Donna alleged.

"Okay, maybe I've been thinking about it, but that's all.
It's not a bad thing to explore all the options; look at the big
picture."

"No, but you have to have all the information in order to make good
choices." Donna maintained. "And there's a big piece of
information you're currently without."

"What's that?" Josh asked curiously.

"I'm pregnant." Donna told him simply.

Josh's face lit up. "Pregnant?" He grabbed his wife and
kissed her soundly. "Wait...when did you find out?"

"I suspected for the last week or so, but I took the test this
morning, right before Meet the Press." She admitted.

"And you didn't say anything?" Josh shook her lightly.

"I didn't want you to be disappointed if it turned out I was
wrong." They had recently stopped using birth control and had
decided it would happen when it happened, but this was pretty fast.
"Are you okay with this?"

"Okay? I'm thrilled!" he kissed her again to convince her of
his happiness. "When will the baby be due?"

"Sometime in March, I'm guessing." Donna smiled, but inside
she was nervous. The current timetable had Josh resigning next year
after the re-election. This baby would be eight months old by then.
There's no way she could go back to work with two children under
three and the hours that Josh kept. She was okay with quitting, she
really was, she just didn't want to be a single mother with two
young children.

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

"Congratulations." Sam gave his friend a hug. "That's
great news." Sam and Ainsley had returned from their weekend away
and Josh couldn't wait a moment longer to share his news.

"Isn't it?" Josh shook his head. "By next March
we'll have two children."

"Then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does this change your plans? Two kids, and infant an a
toddler, AND the Chief of Staff job?"

"Oh, God, did Bob get to you too?"

"You should consider it, Josh."

"YOU should consider it Sam."

"I'm not from Connecticut. I'd be a carpetbagger. I've
seen the numbers. Levoy hasn't had a serious contender for his
Congressional seat. He's not ready for serious competition for the
Senate seat."

"I promised Donna-"

"I know what you promised Donna." At the look from Josh, Sam
continued. "She and Ainsley share everything."

"That's a scary thought." Josh mused.

"You aren't kidding." Sam grinned as he agreed. "You
should talk to Donna."

"I'll think about it." Josh surrendered and turned to the
business of the day.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Donna deftly directed the First Lady toward the dais where she would be
giving some remarks before the luncheon was served. Many Congressional
spouses had been invited to the luncheon in an effort to bolster the
bi-partisan support of the educational package for Early Childhood
Education. Donna inwardly groaned as she saw two Congressional spouses
in their direct path who were bound to waylay them; Mrs. LeVoy and Mrs.
Nichols. Donna was convinced those two had formed some sort of coven
when their husbands joined political forces.

"Mrs. Santos, how delightful to see you." cooed Mrs. Nichols.

"I'm so glad that there's been such an overwhelming response
to the cause of Early Childhood Education." Helen replied keeping a
smile plastered on her face.

"We all agree on the importance of Early Education. If children
don't start out on the right foot, they'll be in no position to
lift themselves out of unfortunate personal circumstances and live the
American dream." Mrs. LeVoy pointed out.

"Unfortunate personal circumstances?" Donna repeated. "Would
that be like poverty, hunger, and lack of preventative health care?"
Donna questioned.

"That would be parents who don't practice abstinence when they
are clearly unable to raise and care for their children." Mrs. LeVoy
corrected.

"Of course. We should require a litmus test for parenthood. Mrs.
Santos, perhaps we could bring that up with the President? Let's
see, we'd want self-employed, college graduates, no health concerns
or physical impairments...that sounds a bit familiar doesn't it?
Oh, yes, the Nazi's tried that once...didn't work out so well
in the end." Donna quipped.

"Mrs. Lyman, please tell me you're not equating my husband's
"Family Responsibility Act" with Nazi experiments." Mrs.
LeVoy said condescendingly.

"Certainly not...your husband's legislation is far more
dangerous. At least the Nazi's came out and openly said they were
trying to create a master race while eliminating the elements of society
they didn't feel worthy." Donna responded and Helen bobbled her
glass at the vehement response from her normally level headed Chief of
Staff.

"Well...I guess my husband hit the nail on the head last week on
Meet the Press." Mrs. Nichols finally responded. "You and your
husband are clearly better suited for behind the scenes work in
Government."

"I think I need to get to the podium now, if you'll-" Helen
started.

"Your husband was as wrong about that as he is about every other
thing that comes out of his mouth." Donna replied. "Josh would
make a formidable Senator."

"Oh Donna, you've been in this circus long enough to know
he's made too many enemies to ever be successful in a campaign of
his own." Mrs. LeVoy added.

"No Janet, what I KNOW is that your husband better buckle down
because once Josh is in this, it's going to be a very bumpy ride for
Ted." Donna replied in a deadly tone of voice and led the First Lady
to the podium.

"Uh, Donna?" Helen said softly.

"Yeah..."

"I think you just announced Josh would be running for the
Senate." Helen told her.

"Yeah..."

"And it looks like the witches of East D.C. are sharing that
information with members of the press attending our little bi-partisan
event here today."

"Yeah..."

"Maybe you should go over to the West Wing and let Josh know
you've made an announcement before Lester gets the question in his
afternoon briefing?"

"Yeah..."

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

"Carol, does he have a minute?" Donna asked, praying the answer
was `no'.

"He's in with senior staff, but they're just finishing up,
so go on in." Carol smiled, truly believing she was helping Donna.

"Thanks..." Donna knocked and came in quietly while Sam re-told
some story about his meeting with the Secretary of education. Josh
looked up, saw her and smiled. Donna gave a half-smile back which caused
him to look at her quizzically. Donna shook her head slightly to
indicate there was nothing terribly wrong.

When Sam finished with his update, Josh asked for the room and his staff
got up to leave.

"Sam, could you hang on a minute please?" Donna asked thinking
there was a better chance of Josh not losing it in front of Sam.

"You okay?" Josh asked first and Donna realized he might be
concerned about the baby.

"I'm fine...we're fine; just a bit hormonal." She gave
a weak laugh.

"Something happen at the luncheon?" Sam guessed and Donna nodded
weakly.

"Damn it, Donna, I told you this bi-partisan thing was asking for
trouble. The Republicans don't want to be seen as opposing this
bill, but they don't like being forced into supporting it
either." Josh complained.

"It wasn't exactly about the bill." Donna continued.

"Helen said something? You told me you had her firmly on a leash on
this."

"First of all, Helen is the First Lady of the United States and no
one put her `on a leash' you sexist pig." Donna was getting
hot.

"She can't be making off the cuff remarks in a situation where
she's surrounded by press and Republicans." Josh ranted on.

"She is staying exactly on message, but she can state pretty much
anything she likes, Joshua."

"Then what is the big problem!" Josh was getting frustrated with
his wife's lack of candor.

"I accidentally announced you were running for the Senate seat in
Connecticut and Helen thought I should let you know that before the
press got back here wanting a comment!" Donna shouted.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Sam burst out in hysterical
laughter. Josh sat down heavily in his chair.

"I'm sorry, you accidentally did what?" Josh asked.

"I accidentally announced you're running for the Senate."
Donna got defensive. "Are you deaf?"

"How do `accidentally' announce that-"

"I don't know Josh, perhaps we could discuss secret plans to
fight inflation or liaisons with call girls." Donna responded
shooting a look at Sam who was literally doubled over with laughter.

"I'm just asking how you of all people"

"This is all your fault anyway!" Donna shouted.

"How do you figure that? I already said `no' and I
wasn't anywhere near the luncheon."

"Janet got me all riled up because I'm so hormonal, and I'm
only hormonal because you-"

"Okay, okay." Sam held up his hands and gasped for breath.
"I really don't need the biology lesson. I think at this point
we should figure out how we're going to handle this."

"Handle what?" asked President Santos as he came through the
connecting door. "Donna, aren't you and my wife hosting some
bi-partisan lunch thing on education?"

"Yes, sir, we are. I just had to let Josh know about a little item
that developed before the speech." Donna hedged.

"Oh Lord, what did Helen say now?" The President asked
resignedly.

"Oh, you can relax, sir, it wasn't the First Lady." Sam
smiled enjoying the discomfiture of both hi friends.

"What is it? Is it going to end up on my desk?"

"Oh, undoubtedly, sir." Sam replied and busted out laughing
again. Donna hit him.

"My wife apparently announced my Senate run at the luncheon
today." Josh said glancing wryly at a visibly squirming Donna.

"I thought you said that was a `no go' at your house?
That's terrific, Josh, seriously, but shouldn't you have picked
a little different forum for the announcement?"

"I think you'll have to ask my campaign manager Donna Moss Lyman
about that, sir. I had no idea I was running let alone that it was being
announced that I was running." Donna squirmed some more.

"Sir, maybe we should give these two a minute?" Sam suggested.

"Nah-uh. I want to watch." Santos grinned.

"Mr. President..." Josh implored.

"Fine, but I expect to hear details later." Santos agreed and
led Sam back into the Oval.

"Donna...what in the world compelled you to-"

"You should have heard her, Joshua! She and Mary Nichols going on
about how kids needed this bill to pull themselves up by their
bootstraps and how you were more suited to `behind the scenes'
work and then I compared Nichols bill to the Nazi's" Donna
finished.

"You know I didn't follow a word of that right?" Josh asked
as he carefully approached his wife. "What exactly did you say about
the Senate run?"

"It's all kind of a blur, but I might have said something about
Ted buckling in because once you entered the race he was going to be in
for a very bumpy ride."

"What are you channeling Mae West now?"

"I'm hormonal Joshua! It was the best I could do at the time,
okay?" Josh was alarmed to see tears gathering in her eyes. "I
was sticking up for you."

"Okay, okay. Don't worry about it. We'll just have Lester
issue a statement at his briefing that you were misunderstood. We can
work this back, don't cry." Donna cried harder at that
directive.

"I don't want Lester to make a statement."

"Baby, it really can't come from you or your office. It needs to
come from mine."

"No, I mean I don't want anyone to work it back. I think you
should run." Donna told him and the sheer shock of the statement had
him sitting down heavily on the couch next to her.

"Is this another hormonal statement that you're going to change
your mind about once you've had, I don't know, sleep...or the
baby?"

"Ted LeVoy shouldn't be elected to city council and don't
even get me started on his wife. Connecticut deserves better." She
said steadfastly.

"And that mean me?"

"Considering the alternatives..."

"Donna. This isn't a small decision. It would mean campaigning
with a toddler and an infant in tow and quitting the White House earlier
than we'd planned.." Josh shook his head.

"Are you saying you don't want to do it?"

"No, you know me better than that. I'm saying I don't want
to do it if it's going to mess things up for us, and for our family.
I don't wan one moment of pique with a Congressman's bitchy wife
to determine the course of our lives here."

"That was very eloquent, Josh; Senatorial even." Donna smiled.
"You should do it...We should do it." Donna nodded for
emphasis.

"Okay, but don't think we won't be revisiting the topic of
you making decisions and announcements without talking to me first."
Josh teased. "I'd better go discuss this with the President.
Wanna come with?"

"No thanks. I think I'll just go back to the luncheon and keep
my mouth shut for the rest of the day."

"That will never happen. Just try not to get into any pissing
contests with the wife of the Secretary General. Her husband could
definitely beat me up." He warned her. She stuck her tongue out as
she left.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

A/N: Transitional, fluff chapter. Back to serious plot issues next
chapter.

For the next several weeks, they stuck with their "no final decision
has been made and Josh Lyman is too busy as Chief of Staff to seriously
contemplate his future options at this time' spiel, but it
wasn't taken very seriously by anyone in the know. It was at
Nathaniel Lyman's 2nd Birthday party that they took the next step.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"You think I shouldn't run?" Josh asked seriously.

"I think you should be committed." Replied Toby Ziegler.
"Whether or not that makes you ineligible for the Senate is up to
the voters."

"I need your help, Toby."

"You can't have someone who was fired from the White House work
on your campaign Josh."

"So you're saying `no' to the spokesperson job?"
Josh laughed at the expression on Toby's face. "I'm not
talking about anything official, just some advice and maybe the
occasional speech."

"Are you looking to get killed on this? I can't be within
several nautical miles of your campaign. I shouldn't even be here
today!" At that comment, Josh turned completely serious.

"It is a family celebration for my son's second Birthday. You
are a part of our family and you absolutely belong here. Don't talk
like that again or I'll get pissed off." Josh responded hotly.

"Right, cause you certainly don't want to cross a Connecticut
Jew."

"Not when he's also the Chief of Staff to the President of the
United States." Josh agreed and cooled off a bit. "You make me
crazy when you say shit like that, Toby. You made a mistake, you were
pardoned. How come everyone can move on but you?"

"Because it affected everyone else differently from me. Where's
the Birthday boy, anyway?" Toby hastened to change the subject.

"Donna's changing him. They should be down in a second. Oh, and
whatever you do, do not fall for any questions about how Donna
looks." Josh warned quietly as Donna came downstairs with Nate in
her arms. Toby immediately took him from her and wished him Happy
Birthday while Donna watched on smiling.

"Hey, Toby and I were just discussing the thing." Josh said in
his usual cryptic style.

"Good. The rest of our party should be arriving shortly. I should go
change." Donna mentioned. "Don't you think?"

"Whatever you want." Josh said without making a commitment
either way.

"You look great, Donna. You don't need to change." Toby
added while Josh made slashing gestures across his throat.

"You can totally tell this is a maternity outfit, can't
you?" Donna demanded.

"Not really, no, but it wouldn't matter would it, as you are
actually pregnant?"

"I'm only 14 weeks pregnant Toby. No one should be able to tell
yet. I told you I was gaining weight already!" Donna accused Josh.

"I don't know what this crazy man is talking about, baby. Sit
down and relax. Everyone will be arriving soon." As if to punctuate
his sentence, the doorbell rang and Nate started waving his hands and
running to the door.

"I'm going to change into something that doesn't make me
look fat." Donna announced.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Josh sighed. "You just had to
say something didn't you?"

"You were the one who had me greasing the nurse when Andi was
pregnant." Toby reminded him.

"Oh, yeah." Josh recalled as he got up to help his son answer
the door. It was the start of an avalanche as friends and family arrived
for the party, but it was the additional Secret Service that heralded
the arrival of the man Josh most wanted to see.

"We're so glad you could make it, Mr. President." Josh was
enveloped in a hug by Jed Bartlet.

"I'm pleased to be in the home of the future Senator from
Connecticut." Jed replied with a twinkle in his eye. "Abby is
sorry she couldn't make it, but she's busy at the hospital with
something or other."

"We'll just have to make do with you then, sir. Please come
in." Nate chose that moment to run into the foyer and seeing who the
latest visitor was, ran into Jed's waiting arms.

"There's the man of the hour." Jed proclaimed. "How old
are you again?"

"Two!" Nate announced proudly as he held up three fingers.

"Yeah, you got your Dad's brains there kiddo." Jed teased.
"Where's your Mom?"

"Ma-ma! Ma-ma." Nate called as he climbed the stairs to find his
mother. Donna appeared in her third change of clothes and saw who had
arrived.

"Donnatella. You are positively radiant. Dump this Government
worker, and run away with me. He was never good enough for you
anyway." Jed kissed her on the cheek.

"It's tempting, Mr. President, very tempting." Donna told
him feeling a little calmer now.

"I have a present here for the Birthday boy." Jed proclaimed and
took the gift from the hands of one of his Secret Service agents.
Technically, they weren't supposed to have anything in their hands,
but when Jed Bartlet told you to hold something for him...well
that's what you do.

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

After cake was served, and Nate was busy running off his sugar high with
his friends and cousins, Josh found himself at a table in the backyard
with an informal campaign committee.

"You should announce from your childhood home. Show your roots and
prove you're invested in the community." Sam opined.

"How? By standing in front an empty house? No, he needs to announce
from the Capitol or some other place that gives a great visual and
connects him to daily Government." Toby argued.

"When's your last day going to be with President Santos?"
Jed interrupted the argument.

"December 31st." Josh answered absently.

"Then take January and get your family settled. Once you've got
a home base there, everything's going to run smoother and feel more
natural. With Donna due in March, you're not going to want to stray
to far from home until then." Jed offered.

"So you announce in February and start the rubber chicken circuit
then." Sam smiled.

"I think Donna already took care of the announcement." Josh
jokes.

"The FORMAL announcement in February then." Sam amended.
"You need to work on your speech and develop a platform."

"Transportation and Education poll among the highest constituent
concerns." Toby offered looking at the polling data they had
collected.

"That will meld nicely with what you've been doing in the Santos
Administration, but you've got to step back and look at these things
through a different lens, Josh." Jed noted.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"You've been focused on the national lens for a long, long time.
To be successful in Senate politics you need to think more locally."
Jed continued.

"Like we did in the Primaries?" Josh asked.

"To a certain extent, yes." Jed confirmed. "They're
going to try to paint you with my mistakes and Matt's mistakes. Have
you had opposition research run yet?"

"Joey Lucas is doing it now. The only thing I'm sure of is that
they'll try to use the PTSD." Josh told them.

"That would be a mistake." Toby noted. "A very big
mistake."

"They won't do it directly, they're not that stupid."
Josh maintained. "It will be `sources close to the Bartlet
administration..' shit like that."

"You should do a sit down." Bartlet added. "Pick someone you
trust in the press corps and go through a detailed account of
everything."

"And that would be who, exactly?" Josh laughed.

"Right. Have your wife do a sit down." Bartlet amended.

"That's not a bad idea, you know." Sam chimed in.

"What's not a bad idea, honey?" Ainsley asked her husband as
she reached over his shoulder to pluck some of the food off of his
plate.

"Having Donna do a pre-emptive sit down to soften the ground a
bit." Sam responded as he moved his plate further out of reach.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. Donna's a
little..."

"Crazy?" Josh offered.

"I was going to go with emotional... right now." Ainsley
finished.

"If the last go around is any indication, things may not level out
until about month 5." Josh told them all.

"I say let her do it. Donna can keep it together for an
interview." Sam argued.

"Joshua Lyman, you promised you would run interference with my
Mother and she's in there re-organizing my kitchen while you sit out
here cavorting with your pals. My sister has made 3 comments about my
dress and I'm gaining weight from merely looking at the cake. Next
time, YOU are having the child!" Donna stormed away from them and
Josh merely looked at Sam.

"Yeah, you're going to want to wait on her sit down." Sam
agreed.

"Da-da look!" Nate demanded as he shoved his new train into his
Dad's lap.

"Check that out! Where's the track?" Josh asked him. Nate
scrambled to get it. "I'm ready for this guys. I feel like
I've been spinning my wheels for the last 6 months, and I'm
ready for what's next."

"Here." Nate dumped the train tracks on the table.

"Let's build a railroad, Nate man." Josh got down on the
ground and along with the former President of the United States and the
Deputy Chief of Staff, put together his son's new train set.

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

January 8th:

"Put that down, Donna."

"I can carry some clothes." Donna insisted as her husband took
them out of her hands.

"Of course you CAN; you're just not going to. That's why we
hired movers. Will you please sit down somewhere and put your feet
up?"

"I need something to do, Josh. I don't do well with nothing to
do."

"This I know. You should've stayed with Nate and Ainsley."

"And left you to handle this by yourself? We'd be lucky to find
the dishes."

"Hey! You need to be nicer to me. I'm currently unemployed, you
know."

"By your own choice." She reminded him. "Besides, someone
has to keep you on your toes so you're ready for those Senatorial
debates."

"Yeah, I don't think you can actually see your toes right now,
can you?" he no sooner finished the sentence than Donna smacked him
with her clipboard. The clipboard held the key to what was in all the
boxes and where each box should go. Josh tried to tell her that these
movers did this for a living, but it made her feel better to have her
lists and her clipboard, so that was that.

"Ouch. I thought we believed in no violence around here?" Josh
asked rubbing his arm.

"That's only in regards to the children." Donna informed
him.

"Children." Josh smiled. "We're going to have children
soon, Donna."

"Very soon, if how I'm feeling these days is any
indication." She complained.

Josh rubbed her lower back and eased her down onto the couch next to
him.

"Will you do me a favor? Toby took another pass at the announcement
speech and I'm having a hard time being objective about it. Will you
take a look?" Josh might not be able to get his wife to stay out of
the moving madness, but he did know how to distract her.

"Sure. Give me a copy."

Josh pulled a folded copy out of his pocket and handed it to her,
smiling. Donna leaned back and started reading; making illegible notes
in the margins.

By eleven that evening, the furniture was all placed and Nate was asleep
in his new toddler bed. Josh, Sam, and Toby were sharing a beer, while
Donna slept on her husband's shoulder.

"I've got a couple notes on the speech." Josh told Toby as
he handed him the marked up copy.

"Why must you mess with perfection?" Toby asked.

"Not me; Donna, though I think she had a couple valid points."

"You are so whipped, my friend." Toby shook his head. Josh just
laughed and shared a look with Sam before he got back to the speech.

"I don't want to talk about Rosslyn. Neither of us do." Josh
reiterated. "That doesn't have to be part of the story."

"But it IS part of the story; so is Gaza. The sooner you come to
Jesus on those points, the better." Sam argued. Since being promoted
to Chief of Staff, this was one of his rare evenings off and he really
didn't want to spend it talking about politics of any kind, so he
changed the subject. "Ainsley's pregnant."

"That's terrific, Sam. Congratulations. How's Ainsley
doing?" Josh asked.

"She hasn't been sick or anything, just eating like crazy."

"And that's different from usual how?" Toby asked.

"Fair point." Sam conceded. "But since we've had medical
confirmation, I'm not giving her grief about it anymore."

"Good plan." Josh agreed. "Speaking of indulging pregnant
spouses, I'd better get this one up to bed. Thanks for all your
help, especially with watching Nate."

"It's good practice." Sam leaned over and kissed Donna's
forehead. "'Night Sleeping Beauty."

"Better not let Ainsley hear you say that." Mumbled a sleepy
Donna.

"Better not indeed. We'll see you soon. Take care of
yourself." Toby told her as he too, kissed her goodnight. Josh
walked them out and then helped Donna up from the couch.

"I don't think you should be kissing other men goodnight right
in front of me like that." Josh teased her. "My self-esteem is
pretty fragile right now."

"Then come to bed and I can make it up to you." Donna purred and
Josh's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "We haven't made
love in our new house yet."

"We can't have that now, can we?" Josh let her pull him into
their new bedroom.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 5

"I'm thinking of mentioning the Yale Bulldogs." Josh
mentioned as Donna straightened his tie.

"Yes, because reminding the people of Connecticut that you're
part of the Ivy League elite is really how you want to start off
here." Donna deadpanned.

"I'm very proud of where I went to school, Donna."

"I heard you had a 760 verbal on the SAT's too. Maybe you could
work that in too."

"I think that will be self-evident by my oratory skills."

"Of course." Donna agreed. "But since Toby wrote most of the
speech, won't it be Toby's oratory skills they'll be
admiring?"

"I wrote plenty, plus Toby wrote off of my ideas."

"There, you're all set." Donna fixed his jacket lapels then
moved her hand to her lower back.

"Go sit down. I can walk out by myself."

"No, together." Donna corrected. "We `re doing this
together." They listened quietly as Governor Jim Owens introduced
them.

"...the next Senator from the great State of Connecticut, our very
own Joshua Lyman."

Josh paused a moment and Donna squeezed his hand. "You're going
to do great."

Hand in hand they walked to the podium and Donna stood by his side as he
announced his candidacy for the US Senate. His delivery was passionate
and the editorials the next day would remark on how down to earth and
connected the Lyman's were with the crowd; but the headlines were
banner and remarked on something else entirely.

"Lyman's Deliver in Connecticut"

Within hours of his formal announcement, Donna Moss-Lyman who had begun
back labor early that morning delivered their second child. The front
page of every newspaper in Connecticut, and most of the national ones,
heralded the arrival. Toby accused them of grandstanding, but in the
excitement of the delivery forgot to rail on Josh for his ad lib in the
`B' section.

Caitlin Moss Lyman was a media sensation from the moment she was born
and there was no mistaking the fact that she enjoyed all the attention;
Donna maintained that she took after her father. It wasn't until a
few weeks after they'd brought her home that the other shoe dropped.

It started off innocently enough, recounting the harrowing events at
Rosslyn and Josh's narrow escape from death. Within a few days,
though, stories started to surface from unnamed White House sources
about troubled days in the White House the Christmas after the shooting;
erratic behavior and violent outbursts. Next came the stories that asked
experts about the long terms effects the shooting had on Josh Lyman.
Finally, came the Republican hatchet men who out and out accused Josh
Lyman of being unfit for public office.

"It's time for you to hit back." Joey told him through her
interpreter Kenny. "You need to give one in depth interview and it
will be old news."

Josh and Donna reluctantly agreed and sat down in their living room with
Chris Matthews of Hard Ball just 4 weeks after they brought their new
daughter home. Josh had wanted to do the interview alone, but Donna
overruled him.

"I promise to keep my mouth shut if that's what you want, but
I'll be sitting next to you through the whole thing." She stated
unequivocally.

"Josh, why is it that you've never gone on the record about the
events in Rosslyn before now." Chris asked him.

"I would prefer not to talk about them now either." Josh told
him honestly. "But since my Republican opponent is using this issue
to cast doubt on my abilities to serve as Senator I feel I have no
choice but to speak about them."

"What do you remember about that night?"

"Blessedly, not much. I remember the President had an awesome town
hall meeting and we'd just gotten some great news about the Space
shuttle and a pilot that had gone down in the no fly zone, so we were
all feeling pretty good as we left that night. I stayed behind a minute
to make a call, so I ended up separated from the rest of the
Presidential party." Josh paused and took a drink of water. "I
vaguely remember a terrible pain in my side and trying to call for help,
but I couldn't get any sound out. Toby Ziegler found me and
that's the last thing I remember before I woke up in the recovery
room."

"According to C.J. Cregg's briefings you were in surgery for
over 14 hours. What was the recovery process like for you?"

"It was pretty hellish. The physical therapy alone nearly killed me.
I missed my work and my friends and felt pretty cut off from the world
for the months following the shooting."

"So you get back to the White House after being more or less
confined to your apartment for three months. How did you pick up your
professional life after that?"

"When I first got back, everyone took great pains to help me adjust
and bring me up to speed. I didn't like being coddled though, so I
dove right in and in retrospect that might have been a mistake. I had
been through some pretty traumatic events and I hadn't taken the
time to work through any of it."

"There's been a lot of speculation about what went on with you
that Christmas. Can you end the speculation tonight?"

"A few weeks before Christmas, I began experiencing symptoms that
worried the people I was working with; anxiety, short temper, and a
variety of physical pains. Luckily for me, the people I work with saw
the symptoms for what they were; signs of Post Traumtic Stress Disorder
and arranged for me to meet with a Doctor who specializes in
treating people who suffer from that disorder. That Christmas Eve when I
met with Dr. Keyworth was a pivotal time for me. We spent almost eight
hours talking I began to feel like I wasn't as broken as I had been
feeling. Turns out that people who have PTSD have certain things that
can trigger an episode. For me, it was music. Whenever I heard music, my
mind equated the music with the sirens from that night in Rosslyn and I
would relive the entire event."

"And I imagine Christmas at the White House is replete with
music." Mattthews commented. "Congressman LeVoy's staff has
dug up an emergency room record from that night, denoting a cut hand and
the need for stitches. How were you injured?"

Donna started to speak, but Josh squeezed her hand. This was going to be
the tough part to get through.

"I cut my hand when I broke a window in my apartment. I had just
gotten home from the Congressional Christmas party where we had heard
Yo-Yo Ma play. The music had triggered a pretty severe episode and I
couldn't make the sirens in my head stop. In my frustration and pain
I hit the window with my hand and it broke. The next day I saw Stanley
Keyworth."

"What is the long term prognosis for your Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder?" Chris asked further. "Do the people of Connecticut
have reason to be concerned about your mental health? Are you fit to
serve as Senator?"

This time Donna piped up before Josh could.

"As someone who lives every day with Josh, I can assure you that he
while he might drive other people crazy, he is more than fit to serve as
Senator. This rubbish that his opponent is spewing out is just
that...rubbish. Even right after his diagnosis, he continued to serve
as Deputy Chief of Staff for President Bartlet, then as Chief of Staff
under President Santos. Like many other Americans, he manages his PTSD
without it affecting his daily life or professional abilities"
Donna's assessment and determination coaxed a smile from Chris
Matthews and he turned to her.

"I imagine living through the bombing of the American CODEL in Gaza
gives you some keen insight into what your husband went through."

"Yes." Donna answered simply and said not another word. Josh
looked at her in surprise and then started to smile.

"My wife and I have spent a great many years in service to our
Government and paid no small price, individually and as a family, but I
can speak for both of us when I say we don't regret a single day.
When we look in our son's eyes, and now our daughter's, we know
that we have made this country a better place for them to live and
grow." Josh took his wife's hand. "That's what we hope
to continue to do if the people of Connecticut decide to send me to the
Senate."

"Conventional wisdom doesn't foresee you having any trouble with
your Democratic contenders in the primary here, but polls out today show
a tight race between you and Congressman LeVoy if the election were held
today. Do you think it's going to stay tight for the next 8
months?"

"I'm not taking anything for granted, Chris. The other Democrats
seeking the nomination are good men and women and I have no doubt that
the upcoming debates will keep us sharp for the general in the fall. As
for Congressman LeVoy, I've had to do battle with him when I worked
in the White House and I would be the last one to underestimate
him." His statement was offset, however, by the eye roll his wife
gave the camera.

"Do you have a different opinion, Donna?" Chris baited her.

"Just a bit. My husband, with the help of his colleagues to be sure,
took a little known New Hampshire Governor and catapulted him into the
White House. Then, when that administration was coming to a close, he
went out on his own and found another relatively obscure candidate and
took him to the White House. He may be new to being the candidate
himself, but the one thing that he has always done in politics is stay
true to what he believes and the people of Connecticut will recognize
that and respond to that as they get to know him."

"Josh and Donna Lyman, thanks for taking the time to talk with me
tonight." The segment producer yelled `we're out' and
Josh pulled off his mic.

"Way to lower expectations there, Donnatella." Josh teased her.

"We don't need to lower expectations, Joshua, we need to raise
them." At that point, Josh's Mom came in with Caitlin who was
wide awake and looking for supper.

"Here, Mom, I'll take her." Donna scooped up her daughter
from her adoring Grandmother and went in search of some privacy to nurse
her child.

"Good luck with the Senate race, Josh." Chris shook his hand as
the camera crew packed up their equipment. "I'm looking forward
to the debates."

Lou Thornton joined the candidate once the crew had left. "You did
pretty good out there, Joshua. We'll follow up with the statements
from Dr. Keyworth and Presidents Bartlet and Santos. It will be a
non-story by the weekend." Lou had agreed to run Josh's campaign
over Josh's strenuous objections. He still didn't know how they
were going to get through the primary let alone the general election
without killing one another.

"Yeah, okay." Josh rubbed his hand over his face. Between
getting ready for this interview and taking care of his infant daughter,
he was exhausted.

"I'll let myself out. Goodnight, Mrs. Lyman." Lou called.

"Honey, you need to get some sleep." Ruth Lyman told him.
"The catatonic look isn't going to reassure voters. Go on,
I'll help Donna get Caitlin to sleep when she's done."

"Thanks Mom." Josh kissed her cheek. "Have I told you how
grateful we are that you've come out to help us?"

"A couple dozen times since I arrived last week. For awhile there I
was afraid I'd never have Grandchildren to spoil and now I have
two...so far."

"Please don't start talking like that in front of Donna. She
still hasn't recovered from this one yet." Josh told her and
walked up to bed. He was already asleep by the time his wife joined him,
but that didn't stop him from pulling her to him and cuddling with
her in his sleep.

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

It was the second and final debate among the Democratic rivals for the
nomination, and Josh had a significant lead, but Lou was constantly
reminding him to take nothing for granted. Be confident, but not cocky,
concise but not flippant, and by all means do not get sarcastic with
anyone. This was not just about the primary, she told him, the general
electorate was watching and forming opinions about him during these
debates. Josh's head was reeling from all the last minute advice Lou
had tried to pump into him.

Donna could see his head start to spin and pulled him away from the
podium where the debate was about to start.

"Do I need to cut your tie off there Joshua?" Donna asked him as
she leaned in to give him a kiss. Josh instantly relaxed in the arms of
his wife as he recalled President Bartlet's last Presidential debate
when the First Lady had cut off the President's tie just a minute
before the debate began.

"Maybe we'll save that trick for the debate with LeVoy."
Josh laughed.

"I'm proud of you Joshua." She told him quietly. "You
won't need any tricks to hand LeVoy his ass in November."

"This seems a little personal to you, Donnatella." He smirked.

"You are very personal to me. Knock `em all down." She gave
him one last kiss before taking her seat.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

A/N1: Thanks to Amy for her incredible wealth of information about
Connecticut. Any mistakes in geography or spelling are mine and not
hers.

A/N2: Jennifer, you'll please note that I did not place it in New York.

Chapter 6

"What do you say we grab the kids and head to Yorkside pizza?"
Josh suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Donna agreed. "Think we can leave all
these people in our house while we're gone?"

"Hell, no, they're all Democrats. They'll give all our stuff
away to the poor before they finish our pizza crust."

"Yeah, and your Mets memorabilia alone..."

"Hey, do not mock the Mets collector items."

"How you can seriously call a bobble head doll a collector's
item-"

"Do not EVER refer to anything in my collection as a `doll'.
I have a son who looks up to me...at least so far."

"Speak of the devil." Donna murmured as their son ran head long
into his Father's legs.

"Daddy help!" Nate cried out giggling. "Sam!"

Josh scooped up his son just as the White House Chief of Staff careened
around the corner in search of his prey.

"Nathaniel Lyman, give me back my keys." He said trying to keep
a straight face.

"My keys!" Nate insisted and buried his head in his Dad's
neck.

"Unless you can produce the mortgage note that's attached to the
house that belongs to those keys..." Sam began.

"Honey, let's not get into a debate with a two year old,
okay?" Ainsley suggested to her husband as she waddled into view. As
primary nights went, this one was virtually without stress and the food
was great. Ainsley was in heaven, even if she was 6 months pregnant.

"He's a thief! He stole my keys while we were playing
hide-n-seek and now he won't give them back!" Sam argued.

"My keys!" Nate asserted.

"See?!" Sam faced his wife.

"Nate, give me the keys, love." Ainsley cooed and Nate
immediately handed them to her. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Good boy."

"Well, yeah, I'd give you the keys for a kiss too, but that
doesn't excuse the fact that he stole them in the first place."
Sam countered as Josh and Donna laughed. "Fine, laugh now, but
you'll see how hard it is to hang on to a Senate seat when your son
is doing time for a felony."

"We were just weighing the wisdom of heading to Yorkside Pizza and
blowing off this crowd." Donna told the Seaborn's.

"Hey, isn't that the place where you and Jennifer..." Sam
trailed off as he remembered his audience.

"Jennifer?" Donna repeated.

"I don't honestly recall sharing pizza there with anyone but
you." Josh insisted.

"A born politician, ladies and gentlemen." Donna quipped.

"Joshua!" called Lou from the other room.

"I'm being summoned." Josh sighed and led the group into the
living room. He expected to see election results on the television, but
instead the scroll across the screen announced `breaking news'.

"What the hell?" Josh asked as he came up alongside Lou.

"Whatever it is, it's national." Lou explained.

"So...not my primary win." Josh opined.

"Highly unlikely." Lou agreed.

"We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you this
breaking news story." The news anchor announced just as Sam's
pager went off. He took one look at it and sent Josh a look of apology.

"Go. Ainsley can crash here tonight." Josh assured him. Sam gave
his wife a kiss and headed out the door with his detail. Josh put his
arm around Ainsley as they watched the news unfolding on television.

"We have confirmed a report of multiple explosions originating from
the Port of Eastport in Maine. Emergency services have been dispatched
to the scene and there are unconfirmed reports of casualties and
injuries at the site. The Port of Eastport is 6 hours from Boston, 30
minutes from Canada, and is the closest port to Europe."

"Holy..." Josh broke off mindful of his son squirming in his
arms. "Lou?"

"I'm on it." Lou was already on her cell phone to her
contacts trying to get more detailed information.

"We should prepare a statement..." Toby muttered as he sipped his
drink.

"Saying what exactly?" Josh asked him.

"We send our thoughts and prayers to the people of the Port of
Eastport and our gratitude to the brave men and women who are rushing to
the aid of those injured in this horrible tragedy. We await further
details along with the rest of the country..." Toby improvised.

"Okay, write it up and run it past Lou, but we do NOT release it
unless or until we are asked for a comment."

"Got it." Toby went to Josh's office to use his computer and
print out a statement.

There were pictures now...fire and emergency vehicles filled the
screen. Josh set his son down and he ran into the other room blissfully
ignorant of the pandemonium his parents were witnessing.

"Oh my God, Josh." Donna whispered.

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

They kept a vigil all night waiting for news and information which was
easier for the Lyman's than some of the others that had gathered in
their home to watch and celebrate the primary returns because their baby
daughter still wasn't sleeping through the night and they were
accustomed to all nighters.

The news as it came in was bleak. Death and destruction littered the
Port and because of the large area of destruction, investigators were
having difficulty identifying the source of the explosions. According to
CNN, they had narrowed it down to three possible ships that had entered
the port that afternoon, but that was the extent of the information that
they could confirm. Josh got precious little more than that from his
`source' at the White House. So Josh assured his source that
Ainsley was sleeping soundly and hung up.

"What do they know?" Donna asked him.

"They THINK it's an isolated incident and they THINK it was
detonated from a ship that originated from Canada."

"So they know nothing?"

"That's about it." Josh confirmed. Toby had stopped drinking
several hours ago, although he wished he hadn't.

"Santos knows what he's doing over there, right?" Toby asked
Josh.

"President Santos had a lot more military experience going into the
Oval office than President Bartlet had going out and-" Josh had
started to raise his voice and Donna placed a hand over his mouth.

"Toby's just messing with you. Tell him you're just messing
with him, Toby." Donna implored him.

"I'm just messing with you. I actually feel much better about
this whole thing knowing you're sitting here with me, and Robin is
in the sit room with PRESIDENT Santos." Toby said.

"Thanks, Tobias, that's a big help. Have you talked to
Andi?" Donna tried for a subject change.

"Several hours ago. She said to tell you congratulations, by the
way." Toby added.

"Yeah, it was a real stressful night for me." Josh said
sarcastically.

"Josh..." Donna chided.

"I'm just saying." Josh took a deep breath and blew it out
as his daughter started crying through the baby monitor.

"I'll get her." Donna told them and took the stairs slowly
but surely up to their daughter's room. She picked Caitlin up and
took her to the rocker in the corner of the room. Donna talked to her as
she unbuttoned her blouse to feed her daughter and then simply enjoyed
the silence.

Donna felt him there before she turned her head to smile at him.

"I never get tired of watching you two like this." Josh told her
as he leaned against the doorway.

Donna was shocked by the wistfulness in her husband's voice and she
threw an anxious glance at the baby monitor.

"I turned it off downstairs." He told her as he joined them in
the corner. He hunkered down in front of them and stroked his
daughter's hair while she fed from her mother. He was full of many
emotions; anxiety about what had happened in Maine, helplessness that he
wasn't in the sit room dealing with it, and anger that human beings
continued to do unspeakable things to other human beings, but above it
all he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for his family.

As much as he believed politics consumed his world in the past, he now
acknowledged it was a distant second to the people he shared this home
with, to his family.

Donna seemed to read his mind as easily as ever while all these thoughts
played through his mind because when he looked back up into her face she
covered his cheek with her hand and said, "I love you too."



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 7

The morning brought lots of speculation, but little information. Poor
Lester was getting pounded in the morning briefing and Toby felt a
moment of empathy as he remembered some of his own hellish moments at
the podium.

"Did you get any sleep last night Toby?' Donna asked him.

"A bit. You?" he returned.

"A bit." She replied. "Josh finally fell asleep around 4. I
say let him sleep, but Lou says wake him up."

"Since when do you listen to Lou when it comes to taking care of
Josh?" Toby asked.

"Good point. I'm just trying to be respectful since she did
leave the White House to run Josh's campaign."

"Lou was thrilled to leave the White House to run Josh's
campaign, are you kidding me?" Toby laughed. "She gets to boss
Josh Lyman around and kick LeVoy's ass around the block. It's a
dream job for Lou Thornton."

"She and LeVoy have a history?" Donna hadn't heard about
that.

"They go way back." Toby confirmed. "LeVoy's first
Congressional campaign went head to head against Lou's Democratic
contendor...uh...Bishop; his name was Bishop. Anyway, LeVoy is 6
points down going into the final two weeks of the election and suddenly
there is a flurry of allegations against Bishop. They throw everything
at him but the kitchen sink; accepting bribes, committing adultery, you
name it and someone came up with an unnamed source accusing him of it.
Bishop, at Lou's urging, hits every show and newspaper that will
have him to dispute the allegations, but all they end up talking about
is the abundance of accusations against him. When Election Day rolls
around Bishop takes it in the teeth to the tune of 8 points." Toby
finished the story and took a bagel from the plate Donna has arranged on
the counter. "Good breakfast."

"Thanks." Donna smiled. "I'm gifted like that.
You're warning me that this could get ugly?"

"I'm warning you that it WILL get ugly." Toby corrected.
"The PTSD stuff was a shot across the bow. They were waiting for him
to be Democratic nominee and then they'll drop the house on him when
it's closer to the general."

"What does this house look like Toby?"

"Looking at the opposition research, I'd say the house is tall,
blonde, and currently living with him." Toby waited for that to sink
in. "You know there have been rumors about you guys for like,
forever, right?"

"Nothing happened while we were in the White House Toby and the very
fact that I have to tell YOU that, scares the hell out of me."

"Of course something happened while you were in the White House. You
fell in love with each other in the White House. The fact that you never
physically acted on those feelings, doesn't take away from the fact
that you had them and everyone knew it on one level or another."
Toby argued.

"Why are you saying this Toby?" Donna asked him.

"This race isn't going to be just about Josh. You're going
to get pulled in too, and not necessarily in a good way, but you can
have some control over that."

"I'm going to check on Nate." Donna said and left Toby with
his breakfast.

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

"What the hell did you say to Donna?" Josh demanded when he
found Toby smoking a cigar outside.

"We were just talking about campaigns." Toby answered.

"You don't just TALK about campaigns. You talked to the
President about campaigns and he went into therapy. What did you say to
Donna?"

"I told her about the opposition research."

"Damn it Toby! You had no right to go there." Josh shouted.

"You should have gone there before now. She has a right to know
what's coming down the pike. She should have heard it from you!"

There was nothing Josh could say to that, so he simply hit his hand
against the wall and walked away.

Toby gave him a minute and a football field of distance before he
followed him, Eventually, Josh slowed down and then stopped. Toby caught
up to him but still kept plenty of physical space between them.

"Do you want me to leave?" Toby inquired.

"I want you to stay out of my marriage." Josh said hotly.

"I wasn't in your marriage. I was in your campaign which is
where you asked me to be. Don't think they're not going to hit
you with that, too."

"I can handle whatever they throw at me, Toby."

"Can Donna?"

"Donna is the strongest person I know."

"I agree, if she's prepared. She can't be going into this
blind. She needs to be aware of what's behind every question
she's going to be asked in the next few months, and she needs to
know how dirty LeVoy plays."

"She's not a neophyte, Toby. She's worked national
campaigns."

"She wasn't in love with Bartlet, Russell, or Santos. This is
different, Josh."

"I know it is."

"Help her know it is. I am convinced that there's nothing that
the two of you together can't accomplish." Josh finally looked
Toby in the face.

"She's going to need you to prep her. She won't take it from
me or Lou."

"Given the choice between you and Donna, I think my record is clear
on the fact that I prefer Donna." Toby cracked.

"CNN is reporting that the ship carrying the explosives, while
having come directly from Canada, actually originated in the king
Abdulaziz Port Dammam in...Saudi Arabia."

"Well, now we have ourselves a ballgame." Toby replied.

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

"Josh...telephone!" Donna called.

Josh came into the kitchen and took the phone from her. He paused before
he answered it, though and gave her a kiss first. Recognizing it for the
unspoken apology it was, Donna smiled at him.

"Josh Lyman."

"Please hold for the President of the United States." Came the
voice of a White House operator. Josh waited for the minute or two it
took to be connected to President Santos.

"Well if it isn't the Democratic Senatorial Nominee from the
great State of Connecticut."

"Good morning, sir. I'm surprised you can get your mouth around
that after the night you must have had." Josh replied.

"I've got you on speaker here, Josh. Sam is here with me."
President Santos informed him. "I wanted to bring you up to date on
what's happening with the investigation and tell you that you should
do whatever you need to do to stay competitive there. Do you understand
me?"

"I understand you, sir, but I can assure you I won't be staying
competitive by running away from the Santos administration. What can you
tell me that CNN hasn't got yet?"

"Not much over the phone, but Saudi Arabia is denying any
involvement in the horrific events of the last 12 hours. That's a
direct quote, by the way."

"Of course it is. Will someone please remind me what the advantage
is for us to be allied with Saudi Arabia?" Josh said harshly.

"I believe that would have something to do with being addicted to
crude oil." Sam added.

"Right." Josh affirmed. "We really should do something about
that, sir."

"I'm working on it, but you know how difficult these members of
Congress can be. Tell you what, you send me up the bill when you get
here next January, and I'll sign it." Santos promised.

"Are the Saudi's at least co-operating with the
investigation?" Josh inquired.

"Oh, we have their full co-operation; provided that we don't
trample on any area of Saudi Sovereignty." Sam replied.

"That would be...?"

"Lists of Saudi citizens who work at the port and serviced the ship
in question, the owner/operator of the ship in question, the date the
ship left the port...' Sam trailed off.

"Jesus Christ." Josh murmured.

"The CIA is working things from their angle, but even if we can
identify the individuals responsible, the Saudi's aren't going
to be handing their sovereign citizens over to us." President Santos
continued. "I wanted to let you know that we're closing our
ports to vessels from Saudi Arabia effective immediately."

"That's a good first step, but it's a Band-Aid, sir. When
you address the nation you need to put pressure on Congress to increase
the funding that you've been asking for in regards to port and
airport inspections." Josh suggested.

"Already in the speech." Santos confirmed. "I'm also
going to be putting pressure on the Saudi Government in terms of
co-operating with the investigation itself. They may hit back with
higher oil prices."

"That may be just what we need to shake off the blas‚ attitude of
Americans regarding oil dependence, sir."

"True, but it's certain to get ugly first. You're going to
feel the pinch in your race, too."

"We're all in this together, sir. Sam, you hanging in
there?" Josh asked.

"Yeah. I'd like to have my wife back though." Sam said.

"I can put her on a plane today, if you'd like."

"It would probably be better if she stayed with you another night.
I'll be living here, for the next 24 hours, anyway."

"We'll take good care of her. Let me know if there's
anything I can do to help." Josh offered.

"Actually, I'd appreciate it if you'd touch base with Mike
Casper for me. Find out what he's hearing under the radar..."
Santos told him.

"He'd come to the White House, sir."

"I'd rather not make that direct contact right now."

"Hadley giving you difficulties?"

"The Director and I are not seeing eye to eye at the moment."

"Understood. I'll call Sam after I get in touch with him."
Josh promised. "Good luck, Mr. President."

"Thanks, Josh. We'll talk to you soon." President Santos
responded.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 8

"Mr. Lyman, are you consulting with the President about the port
security issue?" A reporter called out. 2 days after the explosions
in Maine, reporters were coming out of the woodwork outside the Lyman
home in New Haven.

"The President has plenty of experienced advisors with more relevant
information than I have at this point."

"Do you see this as a failure by the Santos administration to keep
our ports secure?"

"President Santos, and before him, President Bartlet, each requested
more funds for airport and seaport cargo searches. Each time, the
Republicans in Congress beat it back, preferring to pull my mother out
of the check in line at the airport rather than beef up real
security." Josh responded. "It is a security failure, to be
sure, but no rational person would be able to place it on the doorstep
of President Santos."

"How's the baby?" called another reporter.

"Beautiful. Fortunately for me, she takes after her mother."
Josh replied smiling.

"Is she sleeping through the night yet?"

Josh shook his head `no'. "Up every morning at 3:30 like
clockwork, screaming at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately for Donna,
she takes after me too." He joked.

"That's all for now. Thank you." Lou ushered Josh into the
house. "We're getting a lot of press requests."

"Set `em up. Let's do it away from here, though." Josh
instructed.

"Some of them are for Donna...does she want to...?"

"Check in with Toby on that." Josh told her. "Did Sam call
in while I was gone?"

"Not that I know of." Lou pulled Josh's cell phone out of
her pocket. She didn't let him carry it anymore while they were out
meeting voters. One time he got into a debate on the cell with Toby over
a thing, and the next thing he knew, she was insisting on
`holding' the phone for him. "No missed calls."

"Okay, thanks. I need to make some calls from my office." He
said as he went through the house before closing and locking his office
door. He picked up his landline, and dialed a number by memory.
"Hey, what do you know?"

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

When Donna tried the door and found it locked, she was more amused than
alarmed. She called out to Josh and after asking her to `hang on a
second' he unlocked the door and let her in.

"You hiding another woman in here, Joshua?"

"Among my many transgressions, I swear that infidelity has never and
will never be one of them." Josh sighed heavily. "What's
up?"

"Your son." Donna looked at him carefully as she continued.
"He's looking for you and I promised him he could have you after
his nap."

"Traded for a 2 hour nap?" Josh teased. "I feel so
cheap."

"Wait until the Political Action Committees get their hooks in you,
then you'll really feel valuable." Donna took his chin in her
hand and brought his face up to meet hers. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...just making a call for the President." He didn't
give any further information and knew Donna wouldn't ask for any.
He'd been playing intermediary between Mike and the President since
the explosions and it was wearing on him; not playing intermediary so
much as the obvious rift between the President and the FBI Director Tom
Hadley. This was NOT the time to be fighting White House turf wars.

"Okay, then do you want to tell me why you're sending Toby to do
your dirty work?" Josh had arranged for Toby to approach Donna this
morning about preparing some answers for the oppositional research
questions. Josh winced at the look she gave him.

"Baby, it's just that I love being married to you so much, and
I'm afraid if you and I try to do that together, one of us will end
up lying in a pool of blood...and I'm pretty certain it would be
me."

"You got that right." Donna agreed.

"I...regret that it was Toby that told you about the opposition
research, but maybe it was better that way; coming from him. You two
work well together and no one is more politically savvy answering right
wing mud slinging than Toby."

"I don't look so good in mud, Joshua."

"You look good in anything." He cajoled. "I trust Toby and I
know you do too. Let him walk you through this. He's right; together
the two of us can handle whatever comes our way."

"We can, yes, but we have children now. I don't want them
reading...whatever garbage is going to be spewing at us by
November."

"Well I think it's clear our children are brilliant, Donna, but
neither of them are reading yet."

"Don't joke about this Josh. This will all be public record for
our kids and our grandkids to read."

"All the more reason to get out in front of it; frame the debate the
way we want to."

"Toby told me about the clash of the titans with Bishop and
LeVoy."

"Clash of the- Oh, Lou and the LeVoy camp. That's one of the
reasons I wanted her on this. No one knows how LeVoy operates better
then Lou."

"So...on our terms then?"

"Starting right out of the gate. Lou and Toby are going to
co-ordinate some sit downs for you and we'll go from there."
Josh assured her.

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

"Between you and me, Josh, Hadley is withholding information from
the President. He doesn't think the President has given the FBI
enough free reign over the last 3 years, and he's willing to upstage
the President on this to make his point."

"This isn't the issue to get into a power play over, Mike. One
hundred and twelve people died in Maine, and it was sheer luck that the
explosives detonated at night when the port had fewer people there than
during the day when it was supposed to have gone off."

"You're preaching to the choir, Josh. The President has to get
rid of Hadley and he has to do it now before he grows more dissention
within the bureau."

"Would you be willing to go to the President with this directly,
Mike?" Josh knew what he was asking, and knew that such a move could
cost Mike further advancement and possibly worse if Mike took it to
President Santos and Santos didn't replace Hadley.

"Like you said, it's not the issue to get into a power play
over. I can go to the White House if that's what it takes." Mike
said resolutely.

"Thanks Mike. The President and I appreciate the assistance
you've given in all this." Josh told him honestly. "I'll
be in touch after I talk to Sam." They hang up simultaneously and
Josh goes through the process of getting in touch with the White House
Chief of Staff.

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

"Tell me about the beginning of your relationship with Josh
Lyman."

"I met Josh when I drove to New Hampshire to volunteer for Bartlet
for America at the start of that campaign. I assigned myself to the
messiest, most disorganized staff office and that turned out to be the
office of Josh Lyman. I worked as his assistant through President
Bartlet's first term and most his second term, but our personal
relationship began while we were working together to elect Matt
Santos."

"Nahhhh!" Toby made a buzzer noise.

"What? That's the truth!" Donna insisted.

"True, but not accurate. You tell people that your personal
relationship began when you were working for Santos and they will parade
witness after witness to dispute it."

"Dispute it how?"

"They'll talk about: you standing in the operating theater
observation room for 6 hours, you moving in with Josh after he was
discharged from the hospital-"

"That was completely innocent!"

"Completely?" Toby asked and Donna frowned.

"They'll talk about how inseparable you were and how Josh would
sabotage your dates from his office in the White House. Then, as the
piece de resistance, they'll tell about a White House Deputy Chief
of Staff who flew to Germany with the clothes on his back during a
military crisis to be at your side."

"Well, that just sounds very bad." Donna admitted. "So how
do I answer that then?"

"Donna, when did you fall in love with Josh?"

"I'm not sure exactly when-"

"Donna, when did you fall in love with Josh?" he repeated and
she took a moment to think about the honest answer to that question.

"I started to fall in love with him the first day we met in New
Hampshire when he took a chance on a college drop-out who wanted to
start over and prove she could be valuable. I fell the rest of the way
that night in GW when I realized how empty my life would be without him
in it."

"That's how you answer the question."

"But what about-"

"The second part of the answer goes like this: Although we had a
special connection from the very first day we met, neither of us could
conceive of doing anything that would dishonor President Bartlet or the
White House, so we never took a step beyond friendship until years later
when we worked together on the Santos campaign."

"That's the truth, too." Donna noted.

"I love it when that happens." Toby gave her a killer grin.
Let's move on..."

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

"What was your reaction then, when you woke up at a military
hospital in Germany and Josh Lyman was sitting next to you?" asked
Katie Couric.

"Confusion. I had no memory of the recent events and didn't even
know where I was. I did know how relieved I was to see his face, though.
Once I saw him there, I knew everything was going to be alright. Josh is
ferocious about taking care of the people he cares about, and I was
lucky enough to be in that group. That's part of what is going to
make him such a wonderful Senator; his passion to fight for the people
and things he believes in." Donna answered.

"Nice." Lou commented from where she was watching the interview
with Toby and Josh. "Honest and personal answer, and then she pivots
it to the Senate seat. She has the entire audience picturing you in that
seat already."

"She's something." Josh agreed.

"What is it like campaigning across the State of Connecticut with
two small children?" Katie continued.

"It's a challenge." Donna laughs. "It helps that
they're young enough to believe that all the crowds of people are
there to see them and not their father."

"Caitlin is just an infant, but Nate is 2 1_2 now, right?"
Donna nodded. "Does he have any idea of the exalted company his
family travels in? Current and past Presidents, foreign Heads of State,
Religious leaders, they've all been guests in your home and part of
your lives since he was born."

"No, to Nate, President Bartlet is simply Grandpa Jed. We have been
so fortunate to have met and learned from leaders all over the world and
someday Nate will be able to appreciate all of it. For now, though,
we're teaching him to be respectful of everyone who comes into our
lives, regardless of what their title is."

"Tell us about your husband's reaction to the events in Maine
two weeks ago."

"It affected all of us very deeply. He has worked diligently with
two Presidents to create peaceful solutions to disagreements with people
who hold different beliefs. He was an integral part of the peace accord
that President Bartlet was able to develop after the bombing in Gaza. He
never wanted to see another catastrophe like that. As Senator, he'll
work tirelessly to enact legislation that would require more thorough
cargo inspections."

"Speaking of Presidents; many times politicians use the position of
US Senator as a stepping stone to the White House. Do you think you may
be speaking to me as the First Lady of the United States one day?"

"I can't even conceive of such a thing."

"But you won't rule it out?"

"This is Joshua Lyman we're talking about; I've learned to
never rule anything out when it comes to my husband."

"And that's the final word from Donnatella Moss-Lyman. Thanks
for being here."

"My pleasure." Donna smiled as the segment ended.

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

"We got a nice bump from Donna's interview with Katie." Lou
began the meeting with the good news. Donna and Toby high fived each
other as Josh laughed. "With twelve weeks until the election, we are
up 5 points with a margin of error of 3 points."

"Josh?" Liz, Josh's newly appointed personal assistant,
called from the doorway. "You have a call in your
office...it's urgent." There were only 3 people that Liz was
to interrupt Josh for; Donna was with him in the office, he'd just
spoken to Sam before the meeting started...so that left Mike.

Josh hurried to his campaign office to take the call.

"Mike?"

"We've got a credible threat, Josh. The Director is waiting to
tell the President and he shouldn't. I can't believe the man is
playing politics like this! You have to get me in to see the
President."

"Where are you, Mike?"

"I'm walking down Pennsylvania Avenue. Can you get me in? I mean
now?" Josh caught the panic in Mike's voice, and Mike wasn't
one to panic.

"Stay on the line, Mike, and keep walking toward the White House.
I'm going to get Sam on the other line." Josh rushed to connect
with Sam and explained what was going on. President Santos had tried
diplomacy and tact to keep his Director in place during this tumultuous
time, fearing that a shake up would spell disaster; but it looked like
disaster was coming despite keeping Hadley in place. Sam promised to
waive Mike in and bring him directly to the Oval office. Josh hung up
feeling a little more relieved that something concrete was going to be
done now. Hadley would have to go.

A distracted Josh returned to the strategic meeting and wasn't
there 20 minutes before he was pulled out again.

"The President is going live in 10 minutes to explain his decision
to evacuate the Port of Houston and 2 miles of the surrounding area
based on a credible threat that has been brought to his attention by the
FBI."

"God..." Josh sat down. "Not the Director?"

"He claims he was waiting for additional verification before
alerting the President."

"Bullshit."

"Yeah. Have I thanked you for leaving so I could experience all the
joys of the sit room and working directly with that horses'
ass?"

"He can't resign, Sam."

"What?"

"The President needs to fire him and I mean now. He can NOT accept
Hadley's resignation."

"I understand." Sam answered quietly. "He can appoint the
Assistant Director as interim Director and include that in the
statement."

"You do not want to blow this statement for a host of reasons, the
very least of which is re-election." Josh insisted.

"I understand!" Sam shouted. The pressure was getting to him,
thought Josh. Between all the stress at work and his first born child
being due soon, it was a wonder the man hadn't had a cardiac episode
already.

"Take a breath, Sam. You've got this under control, no
problem." Josh instructed quietly. "You're going to get
Hadley into the Oval so the President can fire him and while he's
doing that, you're going to get Williams in to accept the Interim
Director spot. Then the President will do his thing on air and it will
all be downhill from there."

"Yeah." Sam acknowledged. "Then I'm going to fly down
there and pummel your ass with a baseball bat."

"Yeah." Josh agreed as his friend hung up to put things into
motion. Josh went back to the meeting and after waiting to get
everyone's attention, filled them in on what was going on. Strategy
was scrapped for the rest of the day as they watched the proceedings on
CNN. When President Santos went live to explain the developments in the
Port of Houston, Josh could honestly say he'd never been more proud
of any professional accomplishment in his life than he was about going
to recruit Matt Santos for the Presidency.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 9

"Josh!" called a reported outside their campaign office.
"What does it say about your integrity that you've hired Toby
Ziegler to consult on your campaign?"

"That I have some integrity." Josh answered shortly. "Toby
Ziegler has served his country for years and is a valuable member of my
staff. He made a decision to save the lives of the astronauts in the
Space Station at an incredible personal cost. President Bartlet has seen
fit to pardon him, and if President Bartlet is not holding that decision
against him why would I?"

Four weeks out, and things were getting decidedly hot in the race for
the Senate seat in Connecticut. Josh was able to maintain a slight lead,
but the debate was tonight, and he was well aware how important his
performance would be. The press, seemingly able to read his level of
anxiety pushed even harder, testing the theory that his PTSD would not
be an issue in the stress of being Senator.

"Congressman LeVoy mentioned in his speech today that you can't
have a true appreciation for the transportation issues of a State you
haven't resided in for the last decade."

"Is there a question somewhere in there, Karen?"

"You've only been a resident in Connecticut for the last 10
months. How do you know what the greatest transportation needs of this
State are?"

"I know I get stuck on I-95 every time I travel on it; we need to
increase the number of cars that highway can handle. I know that in all
the years Congressman LeVoy has purported to Represent this State in
Congress he has been unable to procure any Federal funds to help with
that process. I know he has been ineffective as a Congressman for the
State of Connecticut."

"What else do you know, Josh?" Joe, another reporter ribbed him.

"I know the Congressman ought to be resting his voice for tonight.
He's going to need all the strength he can muster to try and keep up
with me." Josh shot them a smirk that his wife would be quick to
recognize. Toby called it his `circling shark' look and begged
him to keep it out of the debate. However, the debate wasn't until
tonight, and Toby wasn't around at the moment, so...

Josh got in his car and headed home for some down time before the main
event. Nate was in the front yard with Josh's mother and his baby
sister; seemingly waiting for his arrival.

"Daddy!" Nate shouted as he hurled himself at his father.

"Nate man!" Josh returned the hug. "What are you doing out
here, kiddo?"

"Running!" Nate demonstrated. Try as they might, neither Josh
nor Donna had been able to explain to their son that `running'
for the Senate didn't involve any actual running at all. So Nate
practiced his `running' constantly so he could `run'
with his dad. Josh shared a smile with his Mom as Nate zoomed around the
fenced in yard.

"Hello, beautiful." Josh called to his daughter as he took her
from his Mother's arms. "How's Daddy's girl?"

"Oh, I thought you were talking to me." His Mom said haughtily.

"The word `beautiful' applies equally to both of you."
Josh backpedaled as he kissed his Mother's cheek.

"You really are a politician now, aren't you?" Ruth teased.
"You're kissing babies and flattering old women; you've
fallen into every clich‚."

"Thanks, Mom. Way to build up my confidence on this all important
day."

"Josh you've struggled with many things in your life, but
confidence was never one of them. Now if you were worried about shooting
your mouth off before you took the time to think about your response
tonight...that I'd understand."

"Don't listen to her, Princess. They're lies, all lies."
Josh told his daughter earnestly. "Where's Donna?"

"She went up with Liz to pick out what she should wear tonight. Do
yourself a favor and tell her whatever they've chosen is
perfect." Josh laughed. That was a lesson he'd learned already.

"This one is about ready for her nap."

"I'll take her up. Hell, maybe I'll nap with her. I could
use the rest."

"Well Nate and I are going to `run' to the park. So maybe
you'd be better off laying this one down in her crib and napping
with your wife." Ruth suggested with little subtlety. "Nathaniel
and I will be back in about an hour."

"Ah-kay. Come with me, Miss Caitlin, and I will get you all tucked
in for a nap." Josh climbed the stairs with his daughter babbling in
his ear, presumably catching him up on her day. He found her favorite
blanket and her pacifier. Next, he turned on her lullaby music and laid
her in her crib. He rubbed her back for a couple minutes until her
babbling ceased and sleep was imminent.

He found Liz and his wife in their master bedroom choosing jewelry to go
with the outfit that was set out on the bed.

"Hi!" Donna called, surprised. "You're home early. What
do you think of this outfit for tonight?"

"I was really hoping for something indecently low cut so that
everyone would be looking at you instead of me tonight." Liz tried
to disguise her laugh as a cough.

"It will be perfect, Donna. I'll see you before the debate
unless you need something earlier?" Liz turned the statement into a
question.

"Thanks Liz." Josh told her as he shut the bedroom door behind
her. He turned the lock, a habit he'd developed since their son
learned to get out of his bed and into theirs at unexpected moments. He
walked over to where his wife was still fiddling with her accessories
and began unzipping her dress.

"Josh, it isn't time to get ready yet. It's hours before the
debate and I don't want to change until right before we leave."
Donna chided him but he continued to move the zipper determinedly
downward. "Josh?"

"I'm feeling exceedingly stressed right now, Donnatella." He
gently pushed the straps of the dress off of her shoulders and kissed
the skin he uncovered there. "Do you remember how we de-stressed
during Election Day when we were running Santos?"

"I believe I might have a vague recollection of those events..."

"Then allow me to refresh your memory, Donnatella." There was no
bra under the dress to impede his fingers from exploring her lovely
chest, so Josh continued on his journey.

"Yes, I think it's coming back to me now...didn't it go
something like this?" she asked as she slid off his belt.

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

Josh had given strict instructions that he was going to have a quiet
dinner with his family before the debate so he was more than a little
surprised when his doorbell rang at 4:30 that afternoon and opened it to
find Mike Casper on the other side.

"Mike! What the hell are you doing here?" Josh exclaimed as he
pulled his friend into the house.

"We all decided to come down for the big event. Matt Skinner and
Chris Wick are about an hour behind me. We figured you could do your
thing and then we could go to one of your old Yale bars to
celebrate."

"Yeah, that would make a great photo op. You could hold up the
plaque the President gave you in one hand and a Scotch in the
other." Josh suggested.

"Perfect." Mike agreed. "Will the ball and chain let you
out?...Hey there, Donna." Mike teased her when he saw her coming
in with the kids in tow.

"The ball and chain would be happy to send him away until the
election. Hi, Mike." She hugged the man who had become like a
brother to her husband. "That was an incredible thing you did.
We're all very proud of you."

"Whatever." Mike downplayed the incident. Because of his
willingness to break ranks with the Director, the FBI had made several
arrests and stopped the vessel carrying the second wave of explosives
from reaching it's destination in Houston. Mike had endured his 15
minutes of fame stoically.

"Stay and have dinner with us." Donna insisted. "Maybe you
can get this man to calm down a little. My methods of stress relief are
exhausted as well as short lived." She shared a smile with her
husband as Mike rolled his eyes.

"God, Donna, these kids are getting so big." Mike remarked as he
hunkered down to meet Nate's eye level. "Nate, are you ready to
cheer for your Dad tonight?"

"Yep. We all tooked naps...even Mommy and Daddy!" Nate shared
and Mike chuckled.

"I bet they did." Mike replied. "Have you taught your sister
how to vote yet?"

"Babies can't vote. Baby Caitlin can't even run!" Nate
explained.

"That is a problem. Well, maybe when she gets bigger."

"Wanna see my Mets cards?" Nate offered and Mike took it as the
serious question it was meant to be.

"Of course I do! Got any good ones?"

"Yeah, but Daddy holds `em for me. Daddy, can he see good
ones?"

"I don't know Nate man, Mike may not treat them with the respect
they deserve."

"He could look with no touching like Baby Caitlin." Nate
suggested.

"Alright then." Josh acquiesced. "Go and get them and
we'll take a look before dinner."

They ate with all the chaos and disruptions that eating with two small
children entails, but for a single man with no kids of his own, Mike
took it all pretty well in stride.

Just shortly before the debate Josh got a call from Sam. Sam had opted
to stay by Ainsley's side, since she was due any minute, rather than
make the trip to Hartford for the debate.

"I'll be watching the live broadcast, so try not to do anything
that would embarrass us, okay?" Sam told him.

"And by us you mean..."

"Any people that know you." Sam clarified.

"Got it. You realize that pretty much precludes me opening my mouth
at all, right?"

"That might be best. Remember Lincoln's quote? `Better to
stay silent and be thought a fool'..."

"...'than to open your mouth and prove it.' Yeah, thanks, Sam.
Any other words of encouragement before I run the gauntlet over
here?"

"Yes...Game on, my friend." Sam said intently and Josh hung
his head as the words and the meaning soaked through him.

"Thanks, bye." Was all Josh could manage with the emotions
threatening to choke him. He saw Donna walking toward him with the cell
phone to her ear.

"Here he is Mr. President." She said as she handed Josh the
phone. Josh was a little perplexed since he'd spoken to Matt Santos
after dinner.

"Yes, Mr. President?"

"You haven't started your tie on fire while you were sneaking a
cigarette have you?" came the laughing voice of Jed Bartlet.

"No, sir. Donna doesn't let me play with fire." Josh
replied.

"Then you're already a step beyond any advice I can give you,
son." Jed told him. "Be yourself, but without the wise-ass
retorts."

"Yes, sir."

"Toby said I have to remind you about not using your `circling
shark' expression during the debate because you won't let him
near you right now. Why is that Joshua? Shouldn't you have your
senior consultant within arms reach right now?"

"Did you want Toby anywhere near you before your debates, sir?"

"Fair point...Listen, you're going to do just fine, Josh. Leo
and your Dad are looking down on you right now and laughing their
asses." Jed chuckled.

"No doubt, sir."

"He's going to try to bait you, set off the infamous Lyman
temper, but you're too smart to fall for that, right?"

"Well, we'll see, sir."

"Good luck, Joshua, we'll talk to you when it's done."
Jed promised.

"Thank you sir." Josh answered as he handed the phone back to
Donna. Lou was still imposing the `no cell phone for Josh' rule.

"I don't know what to say." Donna admitted as she stood in
front of her husband.

"I really don't think there's anything left. I have heard
every kind of advice and every worn out clich‚ I could possibly
hear." Josh smiled.

"Then I'll just say I love you." Donna kissed him as Lou
signaled him to head for the stage.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

A/N: I'm going to apologize if this debate scene comes off as too one
sided. I am a life long, fiercely loyal Democrat, and having to try to
write a well reasoned argument on Congressman Levoy's behalf nearly made
me lose my lunch. Sorry...except not really.

Chapter 10

"What Mr. Lyman doesn't understand, is that we have a different
set of values here in Connecticut." Congressman LeVoy stated.

"If by we, you mean Republicans, I assure you that I have a perfect
understanding of our different values." Josh replied.

"That's not what I-"

"While you and your Republican colleagues have been collecting a
paycheck from the taxpayers of Connecticut, you've also been
collecting a paycheck from the gun lobby, the Industrial lobby, and the
gaming industry. Those aren't the values that I was raised with here
in Connecticut, sir."

"Businesses pay taxes in Connecticut too, Mr. Lyman. They have every
right to be represented by their Congressman."

"They certainly do. The problem occurs when you get paid for
representing them separately than you get paid for representing every
other citizen in the State. The only reason it's even legal in the
first place is that Republicans in Congress have blocked every attempt
to reform campaign finance laws. It may be legal, but it certainly
isn't ethical."

"I'm not going to stand here and be lectured to about ethics by
the mastermind of Jed Bartlet's plan to dupe the American people
about his debilitating disease." Ted LeVoy scoffed.

"I thank you for what I'm sure was meant as a compliment.
I'll be certain to remind my wife that I'm considered a
mastermind, but I wasn't even among the first of the senior staff to
be told about PRESIDENT Bartlet's M.S. and that was days before he
announced it on National television."

"Do you really expect the voters to believe that? You hardly have
the reputation for being the last to know, Mr. Lyman. I was hardly on
the hill a week before I heard how I'd have to be careful not to get
in the way of Bartlet's Bulldog."

"It took a week? I was really counting on it getting around faster
than that." Josh joked. "I spent countless hours and endless
meetings cultivating that reputation. And a large part of that
reputation involved two things; keeping my word, and moving heaven and
earth to pass legislation I believed would help the American
people."

"Let's turn to another subject." The moderator suggested.
"One of the marked differences between you both is your position on
gun control. Can you briefly state what your position is on this
important issue? Congressman, if you'll begin?"

"I am, and always have been a supporter of the second amendment.
Every law abiding adult in the State of Connecticut has the right to
bear arms as far as I'm concerned, and upon that right, the
Government shall not infringe. Now I understand that Mr. Lyman
experienced gun violence, and that is tragic, but that is not a good
enough reason to deny other responsible citizens the right to carry a
legally registered firearm."

"Mr. Lyman?"

"I experienced gun violence? No, Congressman, I was the victim of a
senseless shooting by racially motivated bigots. Would that we could
make that illegal...First of all, let's read the ENTIRE second
amendment, shall we? Not just the parts that the Congressman and the NRA
like best. It reads, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to
the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear
arms shall not be infringed." If any adult in Connecticut wants to
bear arms to protect themselves as part of a well armed militia,
I'll be happy to walk them down to the recruiting office as soon as
we're done here. Absent that, if we're going to find a
compromise on this issue, and I agree that we must, it going to have to
come in the form of safeguards for our society; background checks,
safety classes, and the elimination of certain weapon systems off of our
streets."

"Are you referring to `waiting periods' Mr. Lyman?" the
moderator clarified.

"That is surely at the heart of any gun control measure. Law
enforcement needs adequate time and equipment to sufficiently search
individual backgrounds to ferret out mental health issues or previous
illegal activity. In the 10 years that Congressman LeVoy has served in
the House of Representatives he has yet to vote for a single measure
that would safeguard the lives and welfare of the people of Connecticut
in terms of gun control."

"That's because I don't believe the Government has the right
to interfere with this particular Constitutional right." LeVoy
stated forcefully.

"No, that's because you've accepted over $280,000 from the
NRA as well as the gun manufacturers here in Connecticut; Colt and
Mossberg. That was during this election cycle alone. But that's just
my opinion; we'll let the good people of Connecticut decide whether
or not their opinion might not be swayed with a $280,000 argument."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm going to ask you again to hold your
applause." The moderator interrupted. "Rebuttal,
Congressman?"

"Only that I find it interesting Mr. Lyman would have us all submit
to a mental health check when he himself has hidden his own mental
illness."

"Hidden it? I beg to differ. I have done nothing but talk about it
since I announced my candidacy and I've been subjected to a host of
increasingly personal questions about my mental health directly from
your campaign so you know it." Josh paused. "I read a wonderful
bio on you in Time a couple months back. In it, you were quoted as
saying that you were unable to work or concentrate without a large cup
of coffee in the morning. You went on to say that when you first came to
Washington you didn't drink coffee at all, but now you've
graduated from a small cup to a large cup each and every morning. Is
that true?"

"I confess; I need my coffee." LeVoy smirked. "So what?"

"It might interest you to know that psychiatrists tell us addictive
substances induce pleasant states or relieves distress and that
continued use of the addictive substance induces adaptive changes in the
brain that lead to tolerance, physical dependence, and uncontrollable
craving. It seems you suffer from the mental illness known as addiction.
Have you disclosed that, Congressman?"

"Are you equating addiction to coffee with Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder?"

"No, nor am I equating checking for mental illness in people who
want to handle deadly weapons with the struggle I had to recover from
attempted murder. This is far too serious a subject to try to distract
voters with emotional manipulation."

"We have one more question, gentlemen. The final question for our
debate tonight is about national security. Obviously, the tragedy in
Maine and the near tragedy in Texas has made all Americans come to grips
with our vulnerabilities as a nation. Would what you do as Senator to
ensure the safety of your constituents in Connecticut as well as the
rest of the Nation? Mr. Lyman?"

"One of the most critical duties that any Senator performs is to
help ensure the safety of the American people. To accomplish this, we
need a multi-pronged approach. As Deputy Chief of Staff and subsequently
as Chief of Staff to the President of the United States I have had
extensive experience working on these critical issues.

As Senator, I would work to enact legislation that holds foreign
Governments responsible for the terrorist acts of its' citizens.
It's past time that we get some partnership on this issue with
countries who call themselves our friends.

We are now in the 21st century and we still have State ID cards that
any determined college kid can forge. We need a National ID card. Our
law enforcement agencies have to be able to share information and
communicate more effectively with one another. These are all achievable
goals; we simply need to elect the officials who have the skills and the
tenacity to bring them to fruition."

"Congressman LeVoy?"

"Those remarks sound suspiciously like more big spending Government
programs to me. What we need to do is streamline the Government we
already have. We are the greatest nation in the world, but the direction
that President Santos and the Democrats are taking us in make us look
weak to our enemies; to those that would try to do us harm.

As Senator I would work with my fellow Republicans to increase security
in the areas where we are most vulnerable.

What Mr. Lyman did in both Democratic administrations, was to debate and
negotiate us right into treaties that weakened our long term security in
exchange for short term peace."

"Excuse me, Congressman, but there is nothing I am more proud of
than the peace treaties I was privileged to be a part of. I can tell you
that the first step to any lasting security is candid and open
communication with all nations we share this planet with. Please
don't tell me the cost of negotiation and debate; my wife was the
sole survivor of the bombing in Gaza, sir."

"You mean your `senior assistant' was the sole survivor,
don't you?" LeVoy taunted and there was a moment of stunned
silence. Donna held her breath while Josh formed his response.

"Donna, was the sole survivor of that terrorist act, and when it
first occurred I wanted nothing more than to bomb the people responsible
back to the stone age. But President Bartlet taught me a very valuable
lesson about not reacting emotionally to politically motivated actions.
He stopped and took a breath while the Republican led Congress railed on
him for not commanding a counter strike. He gathered information and
took care of those who had been killed and injured while Republicans
called him a coward. Then he sat down and accomplished what you and your
colleagues called the impossible; he brokered peace in the Middle East.
That is what political leadership should be about. That's the man I
learned it from. And that is indicative of the kind of leader I will be
in the Senate."

"Yes, President Bartlet may have accomplished a temporary peace, but
to do so he compromised and negotiated instead of striking out at our
enemies and showing them we are a force to be reckoned with." LeVoy
countered.

"Acting as `a force to be reckoned with' is a last resort
option. The very fact that it's the first trick you pull out of your
bag should give voters something very serious to think about." Josh
replied.

"Thank you gentlemen, we now come to your closing statements.
Congressman LeVoy, you will go first." The moderator instructed.

"These are serious times in our country and they require a different
direction than Mr. Lyman and his Democratic Presidents have taken us in.
We need men and women in the Senate who will stand up and show our
strength to our enemies, who will not negotiate us into weakened
positions.

Ladies and Gentlemen, you know me. I have represented you in the House
of Representatives as a tough, focused individual who makes sure that
your voices are heard in the Nation's Capitol. A vote for me in
November will ensure that we take our country in a different direction
from the one we are currently heading in. Thank you."

"Mr. Lyman?"

"Well, I agree with the Congressman on one point; these are very
serious times in our country." Josh began.

"Oh, dear God, he's gone off the speech." Toby whispered as
he put his head in his hands. "I can't watch."

"So you need to choose your next Senator carefully. He should
reflect your ideals, your views, and your values. He should not use the
politics of personal destruction to score cheap political points and he
should not need to prove his strength by using force instead of
diplomacy.

Your next Senator needs to be an individual experienced in working with
diverse people and who is passionate enough about his beliefs and ideals
to fight tooth and nail for them.

I sincerely hope, that after what you've heard and seen tonight, you
can see me in that role. I hope that I've earned your vote on
November 7th. Thank you."

"Our thanks to both candidates and the League of Women Voters who
sponsored our debate tonight as well as out audience of voters who took
the time to hear the candidates speak. Thank you and good night."
The moderator barely got the last words out of his mouth before the
applause started and the candidates were joined by their spouses on
stage.

Flashing lights from what seemed like a hundred cameras exploded in
front of Josh so it took him a moment before his vision cleared enough
that he recognized one of the photographers currently standing not 10
feet in front of him and Donna.

Colin Ayers.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 11

Jesus Christ, Colin Ayres was standing in front of him.

Josh had just begun to feel his body relax and then he saw Ayers and his
whole body tensed. Donna felt his hand tighten around her waist and
looked up at him with a curious expression as Josh's gaze slid to
Congressman LeVoy. Josh caught the smug expression on LeVoy's face
before he turned it back toward the cameras. By this time, Donna had
noticed what, or rather who, had caused her husband's tension.

She kept a smile on her face as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"He's trying to upset you and knock you off your game." She
advised him. "Wave and smile and we'll go have a beer with your
pals."

"I'd rather take care of-"

"I know, but you can't right now." She pulled on his arm and
led him off stage where they were surrounded by congratulatory staff and
friends. Josh managed to pull it together enough to fool most of the
people around him, but he kept his radar tuned to the exact location of
Colin Ayers at all times. Ayers was keeping a bit of distance between
them at present but he never stopped clicking away with his camera and
it was starting to get to Josh.

Just as they were reaching the exit, Colin made his move and approached
Donna.

"Miss Donnatella. How about an exclusive for old time's
sake?" Josh gritted his teeth at the use of his wife's full
name. Donna froze for a second, and that was the only cue Mike Casper
needed before he stepped in between them.

"You're going to need to step back now." Mike instructed.

"Seriously?" Colin scoffed and directed his response to Donna.
"You'll walk alone with me through the streets of war torn Gaza,
but you need to be protected from me whilst I try to take your
picture?"

"Things are different now." Donna said simply.

"I'll say." Colin remarked as his gaze cut to Josh who was
literally biting his lip. Donna and Matt Skinner kept him moving and got
him into their waiting car even as reporters started asking Colin
questions about his relationship to the Lymans.

"Did LeVoy do that?" Donna asked intently once the three of them
were in the car. "Did he seriously bring Colin here to try and shake
things up?"

"Yep." Josh replied shortly.

"I think what you need right now Josh, is a distraction." Matt
began.

"Are you going to tell me how I killed in the debate?" Josh
asked with no humor.

"It was a load of liberal bullshit..." Matt told him. "No, I
need to tell you something about our good friend Mike Casper." That
got Josh's attention. "He's been reassigned to the Detroit
Field Office."

"You're fucking kidding me."

"I am not."

"The President just gave him a special commendation!"

"And the Interim Director just gave him a commemorative plaque;
right before he handed Mike his transfer papers. I believe he even said
something about needing Mike's special skills in Detroit."

"What a load of shit." Josh summarized.

"Come on, you knew there was a good chance that he would get the
bureaucratic shuffle for crossing the Director. You just can't DO
that and not have career path repercussions."

"I thought with the obvious endorsement of the President..."

"No Director wants an agent who feels comfortable enough to go over
their head to the President hanging out too close to them...even an
Interim Director."

`God damn son of a bitch!" Josh practically shouted and the
driver turned around to see what caused the outburst. Josh ignored the
driver as Donna smiled wanly at him. Donna knew her husband's black
mood had a lot more to do with Colin Ayers than Mike Casper. But since
he could do something about Mike and he was helpless to fix things with
Colin, Josh chose to concentrate on Mike at present. Josh held his hand
out and Donna didn't even pretend not to know what he wanted. She
just handed him his cell phone and watched her husband go to work.

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

Josh had ignored his call waiting the first 3 times he heard it beep
through; he knew who it was and he didn't want to talk to him. By
the time it beeped through the fourth time, he resignedly answered it.

"Yep."

"Do not, do not, do NOT ruin the news cycle of the day with a fist
fight over some stupid Irish picture taker." Toby implored him.

"How do you know-"

"He's on CNBC shooting his mouth off about his close
relationship to Donna and the bonding the two of you did in
Germany."

"My head may seriously explode here." Josh laid his head back
against the seat. "I manage to keep it together through the entire
debate, and now we're going to lose the news cycle to this two-bit,
fortune seeking asshole?"

"Not if you don't let him. He is a NON story. Do you hear
me?'

"I also heard you tell me he's shooting his mouth off on
CNBC."

"Any questions you get when you exit your car, get pivoted back to
`anyone who watched the debate tonight saw there is a clear
difference between where I want to take this country and where Ted LeVoy
has already taken us'. Got it?"

"Are you coming over here?" Josh asked him. Here, was the
Marriot Hartford, where they were holding a post debate reception.

"I think not." Toby instantly replied. "Keep your head in
the game. Shamrock boy is old news. You already won fair maiden."

"Yep." Josh said as he shut the phone and handed it back to
Donna.

"I'm sorry..." she said quietly.

"Don't." He opened his eyes and looked at her as the
intensity of his voice made her head snap up. "Don't you dare go
there. That's not who we are; blaming each other for past
relationships."

Matt Skinner had to turn away from the intensely personal moment. He
really should have gotten in the other car.

Donna looked at her husband's earnest expression and gave him a
quick kiss. "You did good tonight. I am very proud of you."

"They liked your answer on gun control." He offered.

"I know how to do my research." Donna bragged a bit.
"Let's call Nate and say good night."

"Not now. I can't...just, not now. I'll wake him when we
get home."

"But that won't be until tomorrow." Donna argued and Josh
looked perplexed. "I booked us a room here tonight. Your Mom is
staying at the house anyway..."

"God, I love how your brain works!" Josh gave her his first
genuine smile since he spotted Colin. He leaned in and kissed her with a
little more fire until Matt cleared his throat...repeatedly.

"And they worry about homosexuals and public displays of
affection." He muttered.

"Not my people." Josh countered. "That would be Ted
LeVoy's ilk that you're referring to. You know it's not too
late, Matt, you can come over from the Dark Side."

"In your dreams." Matt responded laughing.

"I assure you my dreams are much more pleasant, and no one in them
looks remotely like you." Josh said as he pulled Donna closer to
him. Donna dug her phone out again and put it on speaker so they could
both say goodnight to their children.

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

"Josh! Are you pleased with your performance in the debate
tonight?"

"I'm pleased the voters got a true picture of where we each
stand on the issues facing us."

"Donna, are you going to be posing again for Colin Ayers?"

"Who?" she asked playing dumb.

"The Photgrapher, Colin Ayers."

"Oh, him. It's been quite a few years since Gaza, and I
didn't leave there under the best of circumstances. Most of it is a
blur."

"He said you posed for him in Gaza."

"He's the one who seems to be interested in poses." Donna
responded. "Although I thought Ted LeVoy also did a fairly good job
posing as an elected official this evening.

"So you believe your husband won the debate tonight?"

"Without a doubt, and the voters are going to second my opinion 4
weeks from tonight." Donna offered.

"Thanks everyone." Josh smiled as they entered the rented
ballroom to schmooze with the contributors and supporters.

"Nice pivot there, Donnatella." He complimented her as they were
engulfed with people who wanted `a word' with the candidate
and/or his wife. Soon, they separated to share the wealth.

When he got to the table shared by Mike Casper, Chris Wick, and several
lovely campaign volunteers, Josh stopped briefly.

"Nice smack downs tonight." Chris congratulated him.
"I'm assuming the well thought out ones were Donna's?"

"You wouldn't be far off." Josh replied. "When are you
heading back to D.C.?" he looked around at his friends and was
careful not to let his gaze linger too long on Mike. After a little
digging, Josh had found out Mike was taking some of his much accumulated
sick leave before he reported to his new post in Detroit, but since Mike
hadn't actually told Josh that news yet, Josh really didn't feel
like he could bring it up.

"First thing tomorrow." Chris replied and then smiled at the
woman pouting next to him. "Well, maybe not FIRST thing
tomorrow." He amended.

"You were great tonight, Mr. Lyman." Chris Wick's companion
gushed.

"Thanks." Josh answered amused. "Try to keep these guys in
line for me, will you ladies?"

"Sure." The one next to Mike answered seriously, batting her
eyes at him. Josh turned to move on to the next table and found Donna
glaring at him.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I've already agreed to go
to your hotel room with you. Would you prefer to slip me your key to
make it more clandestine and sexy?" He asked directly into her ear.

"Have you been drinking already." she asked curiously.

"Nothing but H2O, I swear." Josh raised his right hand.

"Come say `hi' to the O'Reilly's. They want to
compliment you on your performance." Josh raised his eyebrows and
wiggled them at her a little. "In the debate, you idiot. What are
you, 12?"

"If I were twelve, we'd be breaking several laws here in
Connecticut. Do we have to say `hi' to the O'Reilly's?
I'm really not feeling warm towards people of Irish descent at the
moment." Josh murmured then put on his game face and shook hands
with the O'Reilly's. "Thanks so much for your support.
I'm so glad you could join us tonight."

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

When Josh and Donna returned to their home shortly before noon the
following day, there was a crowd of reporters waiting for them.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Josh asked her.

"And if I'm not, you're going to what? Drive around the
block a few times?" Donna scoffed. "I'm as ready as I'll
ever be."

"Josh! Do you think the 4 point bump in the overnight polls is
enough of a buffer to guarantee you the Senate seat?"

"The only poll that matters is the one on November 7th." Josh
answered automatically.

"Do you have any comment about the statement from Colin Ayers about
his relationship with your wife?"

"As much as I'd prefer to believe that Donna never dated any
other man before me, I'm afraid that's just not true."

"Has he shown you the pictures he's unveiling on Larry King
tonight?" Another reporter asked.

"Our brief `hello' last night is the first and only contact
we've had with Mr. Ayers for years." Donna replied trying to
cover the shock she was feeling. He was unveiling pictures?...On Larry
King? She didn't dare make eye contact with Josh, so she just kept
walking toward the front door. She could feel her husband close behind
her, but didn't look back at the swarm of reporters; afraid her face
was aflame with embarrassment.

Josh fielded a couple more soft ball questions and followed his wife
inside. Donna was already engulfed in a hug from their son. Ruth Lyman
was giving Caitlin a bottle which Caitlin promptly pushed away when she
heard her parents' voices. Donna took her daughter in her arms as
Nate ran to greet his Dad.

"Daddy, daddy, you did good!" Nate said enthusiastically. "I
saw you on T.V."

"Yeah?"

"Grandma said you did, too. She said you left your wise ass at home.
How come you didn't bring it with?"

"Mother!" Josh protested. "What did you teach my
impressionable son?"

"I was on the phone with Judy and she remarked about how composed
you were and I responded-"

"I know how you responded. Now my son is repeating how you
responded. There's like a million members of the press all around us
today and this is what you've got him saying?" Josh practically
shouted and Nate looked up at him confused about why Daddy was mad that
Grandma said he did a good job.

"Calm down." Ruth directed. "He'll forget all about it
before dinner. You always did."

"Uh-huh." Josh said unconvinced. "Donna, can I speak to you
for a minute in private?"

"There's something you need to say to me you can't say in
front of your Mother and children?"

"There are lots of things I say to you that I wouldn't say in
front of my Mother or my children."

"Can't it wait? We just got home." Donna whined making faces
at her baby daughter. "I want to finish feeding Caitlin."

"Now...please." Josh insisted and turned to go to his home
office. When Donna joined him there he closed the door with a bang.

"Your mom was just joking with her friend, Josh."

"That's not what I- I need to ask you something and I want you
to take a minute to think about the answer before you respond; keeping
in mind that I love you and what was in the past, is in the past."

"I don't think I like where this is going." Donna muttered.

"Are there any...pictures of you, that Colin might have, that
could prove...embarrassing?"

"What?" Donna asked not believing her ears.

"I'm not judging. You were both single adults at the time. I
just have to know, for the campaign, if you-"

"What? Posed nude for a foreign photojournalist while I was on a
Government assignment in a war zone?" Donna said with a quiet
intensity that made Josh flinch.

"That's not what I meant." He said hurriedly when he saw
tears gathering in her eyes.

"It's exactly what you meant. It's exactly what you
said." Donna's volume was rising.

"No, I didn't say you `posed'. It's just that you
told me you slept with him in Gaza and he's a photographer. It's
not like, out of the realm of possibility, that he might have snapped a
couple pictures."

"While we were in bed?" Donna asked for clarification. "I
assure you that while we were in bed, he was much too busy to be taking
pictures of any kind."

Josh felt like he'd been slapped.

"Look, you're the one who got involved with someone you'd
only known for four days. Don't get all high and mighty with me just
because it's coming back to haunt you now." Josh replied without
thinking.

"It's not coming back to haunt me, Joshua. You're afraid it
will haunt YOU and your precious campaign!" Donna accused.

"Excuse me, Donnatella, but you're the one who started us down
this path. I said `no' right up until the time YOU announced I
was running and refused to let me retract it."

"Go to hell, Josh Lyman!" Donna ordered and whipped the door
open to leave her husband standing in the middle of his office alone.
Josh had to admit that while her exit line wasn't exactly original,
it was quite effective.

Ruth Lyman watched her daughter-in-law storm upstairs and heard the
bedroom door slam shut upstairs. She paused, weighing the pros and cons
of going to talk to Josh versus going to talk to Donna. Considering her
son was pretty pissed at her for the `wise ass' comment, Ruth
decided Donna was the safer bet. Just to make sure she wasn't denied
entrance though, she brought Caitlin upstairs with her after turning on
a movie to keep her Grandson occupied.

Ruth knocked lightly on the bedroom door. "Donna, can I bring
Caitlin in? She's fussing a little and I think you'd have a
better chance of calming her."

Donna opened the door and Ruth took in Donna's shaking shoulders and
tear stained face.

"Your son's an ass, Ruth." She said quietly and took Caitlin
from her mother-in-law.

"And by ass, you don't simply mean a Democratic symbol,
right?" Ruth teased.

Donna let out a shaky laugh. "No."

"Donna, the last thing I want to do is try to act as a go between
with you and Josh. But I would like you to remember how much he loves
you and will need your forgiveness for whatever stupid thing he just
said to you."

"He accused me of posing naked for Colin Ayers in Gaza." Donna
said softly. "How could he think I'd do something like
that?"

"Oh, Donna, I'm sure he doesn't think that. He's tired,
stressed, and upset by the presence of someone he thought he'd never
have to see again."

"All he cares about is whether or not I did something that will tank
his campaign."

"That statement I KNOW is not true." Ruth told her vehemently.
"Is Josh guilty of speaking before he thinks? Frequently, but there
is nothing and no one he cares about more than you and your children.
You know that, too."

"I sure don't feel it right now." Donna told her.

"Welcome to marriage, child." Ruth replied. "If I had a dime
for every time I wanted to kick Noah Lyman to the curb....Josh is just
like him. He has more passion, tenacity, and loyalty than any other 10
men, but he doesn't always use the brain God gave him in his
personal relationships."

"You got that right." Donna agreed.

"I would just like you to keep in mind that he kept control of his
mouth throughout a nationally televised debate with a Republican for two
hours last night, and that's not even counting Colin's surprise
appearance and the party afterwards. Given how long he's kept
everything tamped down, it is any wonder that Vesuvius blew just
now?"

Donna gave another watery chuckle.

"It was a rare show of restraint on his part." Donna admitted.
"Should I go talk to him?"

"Hell no, let him suffer for awhile by himself. Then he can come to
you, grovel a little, and promise to make it up to you with another trip
to Hawaii while I get to stay with my Grandkids."

"I don't know...can you handle three kids by yourself?"

"Of course I can handle...3 kids did you say?" Ruth asked for
confirmation. Donna nodded.

"I'm pretty sure, but I didn't want to take the test
yet." Donna told her. "Plus, I didn't know how I'd get a
test with the press following me around right now.

"Oh, Donna, that's wonderful!" Ruth cried as she pulled
Donna into a hug. Then a thought occurred to Ruth. "My son said
those thoughtless things to you when he knew you were pregnant? I'll
kill him myself." Ruth said determinedly.

"No, no. I haven't told him yet, either." Donna replied
hastily. "He may be an ass, but he doesn't have a death
wish."

"Okay then, I'll only subject him to a little of the silent
treatment." Ruth decided. Just then Josh opened the bedroom door.

"Mom, will you excuse us for a minute?" Josh asked his Mother,
but didn't take his eyes off of Donna.

"I don't know Josh, the last time you spoke to Donna alone it
didn't turn out too well. Maybe I should stay here and interpret for
you."

"Mom...." Josh finally met his Mother's eyes and Ruth saw
enough humility there to feel she could trust him in this.

"I'm going to make a quick trip to the drugstore, Josh. Do you
need anything?" Josh saw Donna do a double take and shake her head
`no' to something. There was obviously some underlying message
here, but Josh hadn't a clue what it was.

"What do you need at the drug store?" Josh asked suspiciously.

"Crazy glue." Ruth answered without hesitation. "Now that
the debate is over and you're ahead in the polls, I thought I'd
super glue your mouth shut so you couldn't blow it in the final
weeks before the election." Ruth called over her shoulder as she
left.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 12

"Maybe crazy glue isn't such a bad idea." Josh said to Donna
and she didn't disagree.

"You really hurt me Joshua."

"I got that." Josh quipped. "And I'm really sorry. I
guess I still have some issues with what happened in Gaza."

"It didn't mean ANYTHING." Donna said yet again.
"It's not like you and I were together at the time, or even soon
after that!"

"But I wanted us to be!" Josh responded hotly and Donna blinked
in surprise.

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on Donna, I left the White House with nothing but the clothes
on my back and the contents of my backpack in the middle of a national
crisis. What did you imagine that meant?"

"I don't know Josh. What does it mean when someone risks Federal
prison to protect someone else who lied to a grand jury. What does it
mean when someone writes a briefing memo about someone else's
favorite teacher for the President of the United States?"

"This was different!"

"Why? Why was that time any different from any one of the hundreds
of times you hinted you might have deeper feelings for me?"

"Because Leo gave me permission!" Josh shouted and startled
Caitlin who began crying.

"Here, baby, I'm sorry...Daddy didn't mean to shout and
scare you." Josh assured his daughter as he took her from where she
was sitting on the bed.

"What does that mean...Leo gave you permission?"

"After the bombing, when I lost it outside the Oval office, he said
if there was somewhere else I needed to be that everyone would
understand...He was saying he knew how I felt about you, that I loved
you, and tacitly giving me permission to go tell you."

"But you didn't; never once the whole time we were in Germany or
after we got back." Donna noted getting angry herself.

"Yes, I did. The first moment I got there. You were still
unconscious at the time."

"Okay, you know people can't hear you when they're
unconscious, right?"

"Yeah, but then later, when I'd worked up the courage to tell
you while you were awake, Colin came. He kissed you right in front of me
and brought you flowers."

"But you were the one I asked for before my surgery, not him.
Didn't that give you a clue?"

"Why was that time any different from any one of the hundreds of
times you hinted you might have deeper feelings for me?" Josh quoted
her back to her as he stood rocking back and forth with Caitlin in his
arms.

"God, you're such an idiot." Donna said without any real
heat.

"I think I proved that pretty well today." Josh noted.
"I'm sorry, Donna."

"I am too." Donna answered him. "You know, I think this is
more what LeVoy had in mind by bringing Colin here so close to the
election."

"What do you mean?"

"Colin can't really say or do anything to damage us. As you
pointed out, we were both single adults at the time and the relationship
lasted all of 7 days in total. I think he was planning on driving a
wedge between you and I by using Colin. That's the only real damage
he could do."

"Toby really called that one."

"What?"

"When we were doing opposition research, he said he wasn't
worried about `a secret plan to fight inflation' or Carrick or
any other stupid thing I'd done as much as he was worried about what
I would do if they came after you instead." Josh stated.
"Everyone knows that there isn't anything I wouldn't do for
you."

"Everyone, huh?"

"Of course they also know who wears the pants in this family."

"You mean Nate, right?"

"Right...At the risk of starting a whole new thing, I need to tell
you that I shared something with Toby..." Josh confessed.

"The diary?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Because I told him too, and he didn't looked shocked,
surprised, or depressed." Donna explained. "He said `you two
are both idiots, and you should never mention it to another living soul
as long as you live'."

"That's pretty much what he told me, too, except he didn't
use the word `idiot' when he was referring to me." Josh
shared. "Are we okay, now?"

"Maybe. Your Mother said you should have to grovel, which I think
you've pretty much covered, and then you'd need to make it up to
me by taking me back to Hawaii."

"Uh-huh." Josh said tongue in cheek. "Maybe we could go in
the spring."

"I'm not sure that's going to work."

"Why not?"

"Well...Hawaii is terribly humid and rainy in the spring."
Donna fudged.

"Let's figure it out after the election. Maybe getting away when
the Senate is in session won't be a problem."

"You can't seriously be worried at this point? After the bump
you got from the debate?"

"You better not be saying what I think you're saying or Toby
will have your head. We can't tempt the wrath of whatever from high
atop the thing."

"I'm not in the least bit superstitious. I say bring it on."
Donna said as Josh winced.

"You just had to do it, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I just had to." Donna agreed.

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

After a brief discussion with Toby and Lou, it was decided that both
Josh and Donna would stay at home during the Larry King show, and would
conference call again once the show was over to decide if they needed to
put out a statement of any kind.

Josh went in to the campaign office for the afternoon, while Donna went
to an afternoon fundraiser with the Women's Alliance for Change.
Ruth had more or less moved in with them for the duration, and Donna had
never been so grateful for anything in her life. But she found herself a
little disconcerted when her mother-in-law handed her a small brown bag
upon her return from the fundraiser.

After a few minutes of weighing her decision, she decided she would take
the test before Josh got home. If she was wrong, she'd have a little
time to recover before she had to face her husband, and if she was
right, she'd have a little time to think about how to break the news
before she had to face her husband.

Not that she was worried about Josh's reaction, per se, they had
decided early on that they wanted to have a big family, it was just a
timing thing. They really hadn't planned on having another child so
soon and she didn't want to add another stressor to their lives at
the moment.

By the time Josh returned, she had pulled herself together and went up
with him to tuck Nate in. Ruth promised to put Caitlin down once she had
her bottle. So all their family business was done. Without saying a word
to one another they walked quietly to Josh's office to watch Larry
King Live. Donna wasn't sure what Josh's rationale was, but she
didn't want whatever was coming in the next hour anywhere near the
bedroom. So they turned on the television in the office and sat together
on the couch with Josh's arm loosely around Donna's shoulder.

It started out innocuous enough, with Colin briefing the audience on
what he did for a living and why he did it. He showed some of his
photographs from other news events and Larry shot him softball after
softball about how people risked their lives to bring important stories
to the rest of the world. They made it through the second commercial
break with only Josh's occasional laugh of derision for background
noise. They were saving it for the end, Josh figured, all the rest was
window dressing to keep their audience share up for the entire hour.

They were just at the half way mark when Larry brought up the buzz that
Colin had started after the Senatorial debate in Hartford. He asked
Colin about what brought him to Hartford for that event, and Colin
claimed that while he was `in the states' he thought he'd
take the opportunity to say hello to some `old friends', Donna
Moss Lyman and Senate candidate Josh Lyman. Josh barked out another
laugh at the `old friends' comment but Donna was too tense to
respond. She knew that she hadn't done anything wrong, but she
didn't trust Colin either. What if he had snapped a picture while
she was sleeping, or photoshopped something else entirely?

The conversation about his `old friends' quickly segued into a
discussion of the last time he'd seen them in Germany. No, Colin
told the audience, Josh and Donna weren't romantically involved
then, although he could tell there was a strong connection between them.
Colin spoke of Josh's devotion to Donna and how he managed to juggle
meetings with foreign nationals and helped broker peace in the middle
east even while he stayed at Donna's bedside.

The talk of the Middle East Peace Agreement, brought Gaza into play.
Colin talked about how interested Donna had been in the conflict and her
genuine desire to learn about the people there so she could bring back
an accurate picture of the situation to the President.

"That's how we got to know one another, really." Colin
admitted. "I saw this beautiful, blond American woman and wanted to
spend some time with her. She swatted me down like a fly and told me if
I wanted to spend time with her I should show her the `real
Gaza' so she would be able to fully understand the situation
there."

"I think we have some pictures from that trip...yes, there they
are. What are we looking at here Colin?' Larry asked affably.

"This is a refugee camp in the Gaza strip. You can see the misery
and depression worn right on their faces can't you?' Colin asked
rhetorically. "Here, Donna was talking to Palestinians who had
concerns about being able to find work to provide for their families.
She learned that becoming a suicide bomber is sometimes the only way
these people see out of their financial hardship. The families of
suicide bombers get paid a good amount for their sacrifice."

"That's incredible." Larry offered. "These pictures tell
a very compelling story. Now we should warn viewers that the pictures
coming up are very graphic, and some viewers may not want to see the
photos that captured the bombing of the American CODEL in Gaza."

"All the photos from the Gaza trip will be in a special showing in
D.C. mid-February as part of event honoring the memory of Admiral Percy
Fitzwallace." Colin mentioned and Josh got part of his answer. That
was how LeVoy was able to lure Colin here. Not that Josh though it took
too much, but still...

"Now, these pictures are of the members of the delegation
themselves?"

"Right, those black suburban's are the vehicles they traveled
in. They traveled as a group in a loosely secured perimeter when they
were on the road." Colin noted as pictures flashed across the
screen. Josh tightened his hold on Donna. The slideshow paused on one
particular shot of Donna right before she got in the vehicle. She was
wearing a large hat to protect her face from the intense sun and she had
shy smile seemingly for the photographer. "I love that one of Donna.
We had become...close by then, and she looks so happy and
relaxed."

"Then tragedy struck." Larry added as the first picture of the
actual explosion appeared. Donna flinched. There were two quick shots of
the vehicle in the air, and the one shot of where and how it landed.
Larry talked about the lives that were lost and Colin told him he had
been sure Donna was one of them. He described his frantic attempt to get
to her, but that he had been blocked from approaching the vehicle.

"Didn't try too damn hard if he's still snapping
pictures." Josh muttered. Donna's head dropped down so she
missed the first glimpse of herself hanging upside down inside the
suburban with blood running down her face. Her first indication that the
picture had changed was when Josh gasped. She looked up, more concerned
with what he was seeing than what she would see and her jaw dropped. She
looked like a lifeless doll. Donna could just make out the figures of
the other people in the vehicle, some of whom were already dead.

The next shot was of people and body bags being loaded into ambulances.
Donna didn't realize she was crying until she felt the wetness on
her hands from the tears that had fallen from her face.

"That's enough." Josh decided and hit the power button on
the remote control.

"What if there's more?' Donna asked.

"I'm sure there is, but we're not watching it." Josh
declared angrily. "Lou or Toby can tell us anything else we need to
know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry about exactly?" Donna asked confused.

"Where would you like me to start?" Josh asked as he got up from
the couch and started pacing. "I'm sorry I sent you there.
I'm sorry I didn't make him fork over the pictures when we were
still in Germany. I'm sorry that my run for the Senate precipitated
all this. I'm sorry-"

"Okay, stop. Just...stop." Donna tried to pull herself
together knowing that Josh would never calm down while she was still so
visibly shaken. "We need to both take a breath and, you know,
stop."

Josh looked at her with eyes full of pity and sadness and she almost
lost it again.

"Don't look at me like that, okay? I'm not that helpless,
injured woman in the car anymore. I'm alive and whole and we have a
beautiful family to share our lives with. Do not let him turn this into
something ugly." Donna insisted.

"How can I look at those pictures and not-"

"Because I got through it. You helped me get through it and we came
out on the other side stronger than we were before. Do you not think I
feel the same way every time they show a retrospective on Rosslyn?"

"Only there's no art of me lying bleeding on the sidewalk."
Josh argued.

"No, but the picture of you lying on a hospital surgical table with
your chest spread open is indelibly marked on my brain, I assure
you." Donna replied hotly. That took the wind out of his sails, and
Josh sat down heavily next to her.

"When I think of how close I was to losing you." He murmured in
her ear as he pulled her into his arms. "Do you have any idea how
empty my life would be if I didn't have you in it?"

"I know exactly how empty it would be." Donna replied as she
kissed his neck. They sat like that for a long while until the ring of
the phone pulled them out of the stupor they'd fallen into.

"Yeah." Josh answered as he mouthed `Toby' to let Donna
know who he was talking to. Then he flipped on the speakerphone so
everyone could speak to and hear everyone else.

"Donna...you okay?' Toby asked tentatively.

"Mostly okay." She replied. "What about you?" she asked
in return and it took a moment for it to register with Josh that Andi
had been there too. How just like Donna to be thinking of someone else
when she was dealing with all this herself, Josh thought.

"I'm...mostly okay too." Toby reassured her. "I have
to tell you, though, all in all it may have done more good than LeVoy
ever intended. Irish Spring man painted you both as dedicated public
servants who care a lot about the world we live in. I particularly liked
that bit about how Josh was multi-tasking while at Donna's bedside.
The President did have a LITTLE to do with the peace talks too,
didn't he Josh."

"Well I like to think I led him there." Josh joked and had the
pleasure of seeing Donna smile in response.

"I forget, was that before or after you suggested carpet bombing the
Middle East and anyone else who was happy about it?" Toby joked
back.

"After, definitely after." Josh shot back. "What do we say?
Do we release a statement?"

"Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative." Lou called
out.

"Any other Disney phrases you want to throw out there?' Toby
chided.

"We release a statement saying that while we agree with the portrait
Mr. Ayers painted of Josh Lyman and Donna Moss, we regret that he felt
now, just weeks before the election, was an appropriate time to release
such graphic and intense images of what was a horrific event in
everyone's life." Lou offered.

"Toby?" Josh asked for his input.

"Yeah, what she said, only, you know, written better."

"I'll leave the poetry to you, Toby, so long as we agree on the
message." Lou retorted.

"We do." Toby answered as Donna's cell began to ring. She
answered it while Josh finished his conversation and then handed it to
him with tears in her eyes.

"Daddy Seaborn wants to talk to you?" Donna said smiling.

Josh practically hung up on Toby. "Hey, Sam, everybody's doing
well?"

"Everyone's doing very well. I have a beautiful baby girl,
Josh." Sam said proudly.

"Of course you do. With your genes and Ainsleys's genes, your
kid has won the beauty lottery." Josh told him. "Did labor go
alright?"

"It was long. We got to the hospital just shortly after the debate
ended. The pathetic Republican spin artist on afterwords may have
induced labor. How the hell did you get Donna to agree to go through
this twice?" Sam asked in awe.

"She just loves me that much. Plus she can't keep her hands off
me." Josh bragged as Donna rolled her eyes.

"Right. Well, Ainsley is claiming that she's entering a convent
once she's released, even though they don't usually take you
there if you're not Catholic." Sam related.

"This too shall pass." Josh promised. "Have you got a name
yet?"

"Not exactly...Ainsley picked one out, but I want to ask her again
once she's off the drugs to make sure that's what she wants.
We'll get back to you on that." Sam paused. "Hey, great job
on the debate last night. I guess I forgot to say that earlier."

"Thanks and don't worry about it. I'm a father too. I know
exactly what you're feeling. Go take a nap with your wife and baby
girl."

"Will do." Sam replied before he hung up.

"Well, it's been quite a night, hasn't it, Donnatella,"



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 13

When, 3 days later, public opinion weighed in on the matter, it was
resoundingly in favor of Josh Lyman being their next Senator. Donna,
became a heroine and requests for interviews and photographs tripled
overnight. As uncomfortable as Donna was discussing the events in Gaza,
her primary concern was keeping the information far away from her son.

When one reporter made the grave mistake of asking about her injuries
from Gaza in front of Nate, Donna shot him a look that Josh would have
recognized. Then she calmly invited every OTHER reporter in their yard
to come in for hot chocolate and a private chat with Donna Moss
Lyman...It didn't happen again.

Donna was just beginning to think the worst was over when the next
volley was fired.

The article was entitled: The Role of Faith, and it offered a public
view of the private faith of Congressman Ted LeVoy. He waxed on about
how America needed God in the Senate, and wondered aloud how anyone
without personal faith could possibly hope to steer this country through
the turbulent days ahead. LeVoy even noted that Josh's former boss,
President Santos claimed to be a man of faith, but refused to outlaw
abortion.

The press ate it up and started down the path of church watching...or
in this case temple watching. Did Josh regularly attend temple? Would
the people of Connecticut, mostly of the Christian faith, want a Jewish
man to represent them in the Senate? Toby wanted to release a statement
that said Josh wasn't REALLY Jewish, but Josh nixed that idea. His
Mother would kill him.

Josh explained he was not running for Rabbi, and that a man's
personal faith was just that; personal. If the voters of Connecticut
wanted to know what his personal ethics consisted of, they should
examine his actions and the causes he had worked for throughout his
life. Then, Josh stated, they should compare them to the actions and
causes that Congressman LeVoy represented.

Two days later another article, quoting an anonymous source, questioned
whether Josh had the mental stability to hold public office. After all,
the author suggested, he had been through multiple traumas; the death of
his sister in a house fire, the death of his father while on the
campaign trail, the shooting at Rosslyn, the bombing in Gaza...

Josh kept pivoting back to the issues so often that he was afraid
he'd develop whiplash. These little bites, each practically harmless
in and of themselves, together started to spell trouble. People were
beginning to question whether or not all this smoke originated from
actual fire.

When the next snippet came out, Josh snapped. Nearly everyone in the
conference room felt the ire coming from their candidate.

"Where in the hell do they get this shit?" he demanded. "And
could someone please again explain to me why I can't sue these
bastards for libel?"

"You have to be able to prove malice." Toby answered.
"Didn't they teach you that in law school?"

"I must have been sick that day. Lou, are we doing ANYTHING to
counter all this garbage?"

"You were the one who said you wanted to take the high road."
Lou reminded him. "You didn't want to respond to every little
item like they were real stories."

"That was before I started hemorrhaging poll points."

"It's not that bad, we only slipped 2 points in the
overnights." Toby added.

"I don't think we can afford that 2 weeks before the election,
do you?" Josh countered.

"I think we can, actually," Toby responded. "and I can't
believe I'm saying this to you, but relax, damn it!"

"I can't relax. Today's story du jour has me undermining the
Director of the FBI, for God's sake."

"Please don't bring God into this. We've finally moved the
press off that story." Lou noted.

The anonymous source was quoted as saying that "Josh Lyman was
singularly responsible for the firing of the former FBI Director"
and had provided phone records from the White House that showed calls
between the Lyman residence and the White House which were damning in
their very timing. The source went on to say that the firing was
political payback for difficulties the Director had caused when Josh was
Chief of Staff. The worst part of the story was the innuendo that Josh
had information about the attempted bombing in Houston and had waited to
divulge it to make the Director look bad.

"We could ask the White House to make a statement." Lou
suggested.

"I'm not asking President Santos to run interference for me.
He's got his own election to worry about." President Santos was
running in the lead, but like Josh, had taken a few hits in these last
days before the election.

"Mike?" Toby asked.

"I can't have him...I made some phone calls on his behalf. If
I ask him to make a statement now, it'll look like quid pro
quo."

"Phone calls?"

"They're re-assigning him to Detroit in retribution for his leap
frog over the Director to the President. I called some people I know at
Treasury. I'm pretty sure they're going to offer him a job
there."

Toby digested this a minute and then nodded his head. "Not Mike
then."

"You need to be the one to make a statement, Josh." Lou argued.
"No, not a statement, a press conference. What do we have in the
next couple days that would lend itself to opening up for questions
afterwards without appearing like we're looking for the
question?"

"Parents for Peace?" Toby threw out. "He can open it up to
questions from the parents. One of them will touch on it, or come close
enough to fudge your way there."

"I like the visual. We surround him with parents of young
children...Do you think Donna would okay it so we could include Nate
and Caitlin?" Donna had been very stingy with the photos of the
kids. She tried to shield them from as much of the press circus as she
could.

"She might let me bring Nate...but Caitlin? She'll never go
for that."

"Is she afraid it will overwhelm Caitlin?" Liz asked.

"No, she simply doesn't trust me alone with two kids; especially
ours." Josh answered.

"Then let's cancel whatever appearance of hers conflicts with
this event, and send the whole family." Liz offered.

"I don't know..." Josh hedged.

"Will you at least ask Donna?" Lou pushed.

"Ask Donna what?" said the person in question as she breezed in
the room.

"They want our whole family to go to the Peace thing tomorrow."
Josh told her as she leaned in and gave him a kiss.

"Don't I have-" Donna began.

"We'd cancel it. Reschedule it." Liz amended. She had
already learned that Donna did not like to cancel engagements when
people were counting on her appearance. Liz tried to make a loophole by
`rescheduling' the appearance so Donna didn't let guilt
weigh into her decisions.

"Late afternoon both kids are napping. If they're overtired and
crabby you're not going to get the photo op you're hoping
for." Donna mused as she took the only empty seat at the conference
table across from her husband.

"How bad could it be? They get out of the car, we snap a few
pictures, and they go home."

"Spoken like a woman without children." Donna replied. "How
bad could it be? You've seen Josh when he's tired and
crabby...both kids take after him."

That gave Lou pause. "It's worth the risk. We need to change the
story. We're two weeks out and the press is chomping at every crumb
LeVoy throws out there, because we aren't giving them anything
new."

"Well, I could make something up..." Josh offered.

"As much as it pains me to say it, Lou is right. We need to change
the story." Toby spoke up.

"I'm not disagreeing." Josh stated. "I'm simply
asking what we change the story to. What new policy can we possibly
introduce this late in the game?"

"It shouldn't be policy, it should be personal." Lou
corrected.

"Oh, good, `cause that usually works out so well for me."
Josh said sarcastically. "Didn't I just make a huge deal about
personal privacy with the religious issue this week?"

"That was about people prying into your personal life. This is about
you choosing to share something about your personal life."

"Well that's obviously different." Josh replied.

"Maybe something with you mother." Lou pondered. "Are there
any Jewish Holidays coming up?" she asked Toby.

"Why are you asking him?" Josh asked all offended.

"Because he's Jewish." Lou responded.

"So am I!" he protested, to which Lou merely raised her
eyebrows.

"It wouldn't matter even if there was a holiday coming up,
that's not the tone we want. It will look too contrived. We need
something that couldn't possibly reak of having been planned ahead
of time." said Toby.

"Umm..." Donna thought for a minute.

"It would be great if we could fold the human interest piece into
the family event tomorrow."

"We don't even know what we're going to use and you're
already folding it into the family event?" Toby asked laughing.

"I'm good that way." Lou confirmed.

"I have an idea." Donna offered quietly. Her tone caught
Josh's attention; Donna was rarely quiet or meek at these meetings.
She had very definite opinions and had no trouble contradicting him even
in front of his staff.

"Let's hear it." Toby encouraged her.

"I don't know if it's the right tone...or the timing is
exactly right..."

"What?" Lou asked.

"We could announce that I'm pregnant." she suggested.

Dead silence engulfed the room. The people at the table looked like they
were at a tennis match the way their heads bounced back and forth
between Josh and Donna.

"And would such a report be true?" Lou finally asked when it was
clear Josh had lost the power of speech.

Donna nodded, never breaking eye contact with her husband. He blinked
first.

"Could we have the room please?" Josh requested and the room
emptied quickly, although Toby paused on his way out to kiss Donna's
cheek.

Josh got up and went over to sit next to his wife. Taking her hand in
his he asked, "Are you okay?" Donna smiled.

"Fine."

"We're having another baby?"

"Looks that way."

"And you thought telling me with the rest of the campaign
staff..."

"I'm sorry. I was just nervous about telling you. I know the
timing sucks and I-"

"Wait. Stop right there. Didn't we agree that whenever it
happened, it happened?"

"Yes, but-"

"And didn't we agree that we wanted a big family?"

"Not all at once!" Donna explained. "We're going to have
3 children under 4, Joshua. Do you know what that means?"

"We'd better ask Mom to move in with us permanently?"

"Josh! Would you please-" Josh stopped her lecture with a kiss.

"I'm thrilled about the baby, and I have to say I'm a little
hurt that you were nervous about telling me." Tears welled up in
Donna's eyes.

"Please tell me those tears are hormones." He begged as he wiped
them away. "You announce it to the staff..."

"Stop it!" Donna insisted. "Like you've never said
something to me you shouldn't in front of the staff."

"I've never announced I was pregnant." Josh retorted.

"Well since that's biologically impossible, we can all breath a
sigh of relief on that one, can't we?" Donna shot back.

"You get pretty snarky when you're knocked up, you know
that?" Donna smacked him on the head. "Ouch! I don't think
you should be demonstrating violence in front of our child,
Donnatella."

"Since the child in question is the size of a grain of rice, I think
I'll take my chances." Donna quipped, but allowed Josh to bring
her onto his lap where he enfolded them both in an embrace.

A quick knock sounded on the door, and Josh recognized the impatience
and style of the knock as Lou.

"Yeah?" he called out, and Lou poked her head around the door.

"We're leaking it." She turned the statement into a question
by her tone of voice.

"You want to leak the fact that we're having another child to
change the news cycle?" Josh asked incredulously and felt Donna
smile against his neck.

"That's not how I would phrase it, but yeah."

"Why not just announce it in a statement?"

"It'll look less like strategy if the press finds out on their
own."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want your strategy to look like a
strategy."

"Exactly." Lou beamed. "So we're leaking it."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?"

"Easy. You know how the press has been trailing your mom?...We
simply sent her shopping for baby stuff." Lou replied as she quickly
shut the door again.

"The staff told my mother we're having another baby." Josh
dropped his forehead on his wife's head.

"No, she knew already." Donna reassured him.

"You told my Mother before you told me?"

"I had to...I couldn't go buy the pregnancy test with the
press and staff on my heels." Donna explained. Suddenly, the trip to
the drug store made sense to Josh. "Besides, I was pretty pissed at
you at that time."

"You sent my Mother to buy a pregnancy test."

"Of course not. You know your Mother....she volunteered."
Donna replied while distracting her husband with a lingering kiss.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 14

As Lou predicted, one of the parents at the rally asked about Josh's
connection to the investigation in Houston.

"I had a contact at the F.B.I., who was concerned that the President
wasn't getting all the relevant information. I put the contact in
touch with Sam Seaborn, who in turn put the contact in front of the
President. I had no idea what the specifics of that information until
after the White House already took action in response to the threat in
Houston."

"Would you support the bill Senator Conlin introduced last
week?" another parent asked.

"Absolutely. It's a good first step to increased security."
Josh replied. He was walking with Donna and the children toward the
buffet. Caitlin had fallen asleep on her Mom's shoulder during
Josh's short speech and now he reached over to take the burden from
her for awhile. Nate skipped happily beside them.

"Is it true you're expecting another child?" one of the
mother's asked with a shy smile.

"Yes, sometime in May." Donna told her.

"You're going to have your hands full." The mother replied.

"Believe me, with Joshua around, I already do." The women
laughed together conspiratorially.

"Hey, am I not helping here?" Josh protested and motioned to
Caitlin on his shoulder.

"No, helping is what you do with other people's children. What
you're doing right now is parenting...and you do it pretty
well." Donna admitted.

"Thanks so much." Josh responded.

"Mommy, I want a hot dog." Nate interrupted. Nate kept his good
humor for another hour before he started to his the skids.

"We'd better make an exit soon." Donna warned. "We can
split up if you want to stay a little longer."

"No, I think we're ready to go." Josh told her and motioned
to Liz that they were heading for the car.

It seemed like everyone in the State had gathered at the rally and they
all wanted to say a word to, or shake the hand of, Josh Lyman. It took
another 30 minutes before they got into their vehicle and by then Nate
had about lost it.

"I don't want to go in the car again!" He cried.

"I know, honey, but we need to get home." Donna tried to placate
him.

"No!" he refused so Josh handed Caitlin back to Donna and picked
up the wailing child. Donna got into the car quickly and fastened the
baby in her car seat. By the time they got back to their home, both
kids were sleeping soundly.

"Do we wake them or let them sleep?" Josh asked his wife.

"We'll have to wake them, but it's going to be rough sailing
until bedtime."

Ruth met them at the door and told Josh that Sam had called twice for
him. Happy to have an excuse to leave the crabby children, Josh escaped
to his office to return the call.

"How's Addy?" Josh asked once he was connected to Sam.
Adeleine Seaborn was only a couple weeks old, so Josh imagined Sam
wasn't getting much sleep these days between the baby and
re-election.

"Beautiful. Speaking of babies...I heard craziest rumor
today."

"Yes, I should have called you first, I guess. Things have been a
little nuts around here."

"Including you, according to FOX news. Did they know you were
certifiable when they gave you the keys to the sit room?"

"Nice. There are no keys to the sit room, funny boy."

"I thought with all the trauma in your life, you might not have
remembered that." Josh could hear the grin in Sam's voice.

"I'm permanently scarred. What's up? You guys need to come
here to stomp for re-election?

"I think we already have your 2 electoral votes, but thanks."

"Seven." Josh corrected.

Sam paused and his voice grew serious. "I wanted to talk to you
about something."

"When are you resigning?" Josh beat him to the punch.

"How do you DO that?"

"I know you and I know the job." Josh answered simply and
shrugged his shoulders even though Sam couldn't see him.
"It's been a pretty stressful time, Sam."

"You made it through almost 4 years in this job." Sam countered.

"And 7 years of prep as Deputy, with Leo teaching me every step of
the way. You're going to wait until after inauguration?"

"Yeah."

"And then what?"

"I'm not sure yet, but spending more time with Ainsley and Addy
is at the top of the list."

"That's as it should be, Sam, exactly as it should be."

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

"You interview wasn't quite what we envisioned when we spoke
originally."

"I'm sorry you're disappointed. I don't think I said
anything differently to Larry King from when I spoke to you and your
boss last month." Colin replied.

"You could have expounded a bit on the information; focused on your
relationship with Donna Lyman."

"I was honest about it, just as I was with you. What do you want
from me?"

"We bankrolled your trip here and arranged for your ritzy showing in
D.C. The interview didn't move in the direction it needed to, so now
you're going to have to take it to the next level."

"The trip and the showing were part of the bargain in exchange for
releasing the pictures and telling my story. All of which were true and
factual; I don't have any problem sleeping at night. I don't owe
you anything."

"We don't quite see it that way. The trip and the showing were
in exchange for ruining their images and messing with Lyman's
fragile psychological state. None of that happened. Now we need you to
bump it up a notch."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"You have a million digital photos of Lyman's wife and a
computer, don't you?"

"LeVoy wants to beat him so badly he's willing to pay for me to
manufacture photos of Donna?"

"We've already paid you-"

"That wasn't for this. If you want more, you'll have to pay
more. $100,000 for my time and creative effort. Have LeVoy send it
through whatever dummy corporations he did last time and deposit it in
the same account. Once he does, then I'll see what I can do."

"There are only 7 days until the election!"

"Then he'd better move quickly, hadn't he?" Colin said
as he strolled away.

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

"You sure you're okay?" Josh asked again.

"It's morning sickness, Joshua, or afternoon sickness in this
case. I'm not terminal."

"I know...it's just...I don't like leaving you when
you're like this." He admitted.

"I'll be fine. Your Mom is here, and I'm just going to sleep
it off anyway."

"I can cancel the thing." He offered.

"Josh, there are 4 days until the election. You need to go. I'm
just sorry I can't join you."

"Yeah, I think you're a bigger draw these days than I am.
Everyone loves Donnatella." He teased her, quoting a headline from
the `people' section of the paper last week.

"I am incredibly lovable." Donna agreed.

"I think you're carrying proof of that right now." Josh
leaned down to brush his lips over her forehead. "Get some rest and
I'll call you after the thing." He promised.

He was halfway to his destination when Liz's phone rang. Or rather,
Josh's phone rang in Liz'd pocket. Her face turned ashen and she
handed the phone to Josh.

"It's Lou. They had to evacuate the office in New Haven."
She related. "A suspicious package showed up there."

"What?" Josh took the phone. "Lou? Talk to me."

"The New Haven police have evacuated our office. A package arrived
here a little bit ago; it's a small box with no return address. No
one signed for it or can tell us where it came from. The police who
responded to our call-"

"We called the police over a box with no return address?" Josh
interrupted.

"Yes, we did. You get a lot of crazy mail, and while that's
entertaining enough, no one here could figure out a reason why a box
with nothing but your name on it, might have been left by the door."

"Okay, okay. What's next?"

"The police called the F.B.I. They're in there with the box
now...it looks like the bomb sniffing dog is coming out unscathed.
That's good news, right?" Lou deadpanned.

"Undoubtedly." Josh agreed.

"Hang on. The agent in charge is coming to talk to me." Lou
informed him and Josh waited to hear some kind of news.

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

Donna couldn't sleep, but she also couldn't muster the strength
to get out of bed. Maybe a movie would help her relax.

She turned on the television, and was about to turn on the DVD player
when she caught the words `New Haven' on the scroll at the
bottom of the screen. She turned up the volume.

"...and the F.B.I. arrived several minutes ago to examine the
suspicious package left at the door of the Lyman Senatorial campaign
office."

Donna hurriedly picked up the phone to call Josh, but got no answer.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 15

Josh, with Liz and his traveling companions had reached their
destination, and Josh was still holding, waiting for news from Lou. Liz
told the driver to circle the block.

"Josh?" Lou asked to see if he was still there.

"Yeah, what do you know?"

"They opened the box. There were two discs and...this is the weird
part, a four leaf clover."

Josh's stomach dropped. What the hell was Colin up to now?

"They're going to check out the discs and let us know what's
on them."

"But there's nothing dangerous?" Josh clarified.

"Yeah, they're letting everyone back in the office now. I guess
we'll get some free publicity." Lou quipped.

"Always thinking; that's why I hired you, Lou." Josh
returned. "I'm giving my phone back to Liz. Call her with an
update when you have one."

"Yes, sir." Lou confirmed.

They had circled back to the entrance to Josh's event, so Josh
tossed the phone back to Liz and got out of the car. It rang again just
after Josh took the stage and Liz had to hold the phone out so Donna
could hear Josh's voice. After being suitably reassured that her
husband was fine, and had indeed left the office before the package had
even arrived, she finally hung up the phone.

When Donna turned the television up again, an F.B.I. agent was giving a
statement.

"After the New Haven police cleared the building as a precaution, we
took every precaution ourselves to investigate the unmarked and
anonymous package left at the campaign headquarters of Senate candidate
Joshua Lyman. We are pleased to report that it contained no harmful
substances of any kind."

"Can you tell us what was in the package?" a reported asked.

"At this time we are declining to provide that information, but want
to again reassure everyone that there is no potential danger from the
package." The agent responded. "Thank you, that's all for
now."

Donna was puzzled. If the box didn't contain anything dangerous, why
not release what WAS in the box. She tried Lou, but Lou didn't
answer.

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

"He's taking questions right now." Liz told Lou.

"Get him out of there and PUT HIM ON THE PHONE." Lou demanded.

Liz was startled by Lou's tone even though her shouting wasn't
anything new. She extricated Josh from the throng of people surrounding
him and found a relatively quiet corner so he could talk to Lou.

"Get back here." Lou told him.

"What's going on? Is this about the package?" Josh inquired.

"Yes, and I can't talk to you about it over the phone. Get your
ass back here." Lou told him again.

"Did you just tell me to get my ass-"

"Joshua. Now." Lou hung up.

"It looks like we're heading back to the office, Liz."

"Yeah." She agreed after hearing Lou shout through the phone.

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

Josh sat down in his chair heavily as the F.B.I. explained to him what
they'd found on the discs. His anger and frustration mounted as he
listened until he could no longer sit and got up to pace.

"But you've got evidence, right? Solid evidence?" Josh asked
pointedly.

"After our preliminary review, that's how it appears. The first
disc contained digital photographs, your assistant-" he pointed to
Lou who scoffed at the title. "She told us they were the same
photographs that were recently shown on CNN. The second disc contained a
recorded conversation between Colin Ayers and David Jordan as well as
documentation involving a sizable deposit." The agent confirmed.
"We're going to be bringing Mr. Jordan in for questioning
shortly."

"Mr. Jordan is only the campaign manager." Josh responded.
"What about LeVoy?"

"Obviously there is a connection-"

"A connection?!"

"Mr. Lyman, while Mr. Jordan works for Congressman LeVoy, we
don't as yet have evidence that Congressman LeVoy had direct
knowledge of, or gave orders to, have photos of Mrs. Lyman
manufactured."

"Bull shit!"

"Josh..." Toby warned.

"Of course he had direct knowledge of it, it was probably his
idea!"

"Probably isn't the same as certainty. We need to gather
evidence. Give us time to explore all avenues of investigation
before-"

"Whatever." Josh cut him off and walked straight out to his car.
Toby, who was right behind him, jumped in the car with him.

"Give me your phone." Josh ordered tersely.

"I think it's important to remember-"

"Give me your damn phone." Josh repeated.

Toby raised his eyebrows at him but handed over his phone.

"Yeah, it's me. Pull up LeVoy's public schedule. Find out
where he is right now."

Toby watched Josh while he waited for the information and tried to
formulate what to do next.

"Great. Thanks." Josh handed the phone back to Toby and
instructed his driver to take him to the Old State House in Hartford.

"Are there any words I could say at this time, that will make you
reconsider the stupid ass move you're about to make?"

"I don't know, but it's a 45 minute drive from New Haven to
Hartford so you have a little bit of time to try."

"How about this: the news alone of this investigation is going to
rob LeVoy of this election and any other he ever tries to run in. You
are, unless you do something monumentally moronic, the next Senator for
the State of Connecticut."

"You think I care about that right now?"

"I know you don't care about that right now. I'm trying to
MAKE you care about that right now." Toby's voice was getting
louder and more strident. "You should call Donna. She's going to
be worried about you, and talking to Donna will calm both of you
down."

"No."

"No?"

"No. She'll make me promise not to do what I'm about to do
and then I'll feel horrible for breaking my word to her." Josh
reasoned.

"Strangely enough, I understood that." Toby muttered. He
remained quiet for the next few minutes, hoping that time and thought
might change Josh's mind before they got to the Old State House.
Then, Toby's phone rang, and with relief he noted the caller ID read
`Donna'. Josh kept his gaze out the window, refusing to make eye
contact with Toby.

"Hey there Donna." Toby answered the phone. "Yep, he's
here." Toby held out the phone and Josh shook his head `no'
without even looking over at him. "What am I supposed to say, that
you're in a meeting? Take the phone!" Again, Josh shook his
head.

Toby let out a loud exasperated sigh. "He won't take the
phone....uh-huh.....okay....Josh, Donna said to remind you not to
do anything that would necessitate her bringing your children to a jail
facility to visit their father....Yeah, okay." Toby hung up.
"Don't put me in that position again, Josh."

"I'm not putting you in any position, Toby. You didn't have
to follow me, you didn't have to get in the car, and you didn't
have to answer the phone."

"Yes, I did." Toby refuted.

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend." Toby replied, but again Josh
looked away.

It was probably the longest car ride of Toby's life. When they
pulled up at the Old State House, he could clearly see the crowd that
had gathered to hear LeVoy speak. So much for the hope that LeVoy would
be gone by the time they arrived.

Josh had the car door opened before the car same to a complete stop. The
typical Lyman swagger was very much in evidence as he cut through the
crowd while LeVoy railed on about how the Democrats would take away
their guns and raise their taxes.

Murmurs reached Toby's ears when people in the crowd recognized Josh
and correctly surmised that there was going to be trouble.

LeVoy noticed he'd lost the attention of the crowd and he finally
saw why.

"Well, Mr. Lyman. How nice of you to come here and listen to my
speech."

"I didn't come here for your canned stump speech. I came here so
I could tell you, man to man, that you've pushed the wrong button
this time and I'm going to see that you pay for it."

"I don't know what you're talking about." LeVoy replied
in a bored tone of voice. Josh continued to walk toward LeVoy and waited
until he was up on the stage where LeVoy had been speaking. Josh knew
enough about the psychological advantage of being on the same level as
his opponent. Some of LeVoy's staff and at least one member of
security moved to block Josh from going any further.

"What is wrong with you that you think it's okay to smear
whoever gets in your way in order to win an election? What kind of man
does that?" Josh demanded.

"Unless you can be more specific, Mr. Lyman, maybe you should go
back to running the F.B.I. or figuring out what liberal spending plan
you're going to create that wastes the taxes of these hardworking
residents of Connecticut."

"I'm talking about your deal with Colin Ayers, Ted." Josh
tried to move past the men blocking him from LeVoy, but couldn't.
LeVoy stood frozen in his spot.

"I don't know who that is." He maintained.

"Yes, you do. I know you do. And the F.B.I. knows you do, too."
Josh said. "I just came to tell you that if you so much as THINK
about my wife again, you're going to be looking at the wrong end of
one of those guns you love so much." Josh gave him a final glare,
before walking back through the crowd and getting back into the car.

"Where to Mr. Lyman?" the driver asked.

"Home." Josh said simply while Toby closed the car door.

"I think you just physically threatened a Government official."
Toby noted.

"It seemed like the best of my options at the time. I'll take my
chances." Josh answered and finally met Toby's eyes. Toby read
both anger and sadness in them and that tempered his response to Josh.

"On the other hand, I'm guessing you're going to get quite
the free media ride on this. And your little speech is going to make all
the soccer mom's in Connecticut swoon."

"Well good, `cause that's what I was going for." For the
first time, a grin appeared on Josh's face.

"They're going to say this is another example of Lyman out of
control."

"Who's going to listen to that after the story gets out?"

"His base." Toby replied.

"I don't think I was going to get their votes anyway."

"This isn't just about the votes."

"It sure as hell isn't! This used to be about different
philosophical ideas battling it out for supremacy with the American
public. When did spouses and children become fair game?"

"Fair game? I don't think so, but you're not na‹ve. You
have been in this way too long to think it's all about philosophical
ideas and grand debates. It gets personal and it gets ugly. You knew
that going in, so did Donna. She's not the same young woman you
helped pick up off the dirt during Bartlet for America."

"I know that, Toby."

"Then act like it." Toby insisted. "Let the F.B.I. handle
the investigation."

"Can you imagine what that would have done to Donna if Ayers had
followed through with that scheme?" Josh asked him hotly. "To
our children and our families?"

"Yeah, but he didn't. Instead he turned over the recording of
his conversation with Jordan and all the supporting documentation so
they could be prosecuted."

"It's not enough!' Josh protested.

"It never will be, so take what you can get." Toby yelled. Then
he took a deep breath before he continued. "Donna's going to
take her cue from you. If you go postal over this, it's going to be
a major stress for her, which is something she doesn't need right
now."

"Stop using my feelings for Donna to try and control me, Toby."

"Then stop acting like a petulant child, Josh."

"A petulant child?" Josh barked. "He tried to-"

"I know. Just...repeat after me. `I have complete confidence
in the F.B.I. to fully investigate this disturbing matter and prosecute
those responsible."

Josh laughed with humor. "That's pretty good spin there,
Toby."

"Say it!" Toby repeated and Josh complied. "Good. We'll
drop you off at home and Lou and I will figure out what we cancel and
what we keep on tomorrow's schedule."



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 16

Donna was waiting in the living room for him when he got home. The T.V.
was on in the background but the sound was low.

"Anything interesting on the news tonight, Donna?" he began.

"Well, there's nothing about a fist fight between Senatorial
candidates, but it could still be coming in, I suppose." Donna
noted. "You didn't do anything terribly stupid, did you?"

"Nah, just threatened a US Congressman." Josh replied.

"So, just another day at the office for you, then?" Donna asked.

"Pretty much." Josh said as he sat next to her on the couch.
"How are you feeling?"

"I think I threw up some of my internal organs."

"So, just another day pregnant for you, then?"

"Yeah..." Donna laid her head on his shoulder. "Caitlin
pulled herself up to standing tonight."

"Seriously? And I missed it?" Josh sounded terribly
disappointed.

"Your mom took video and I'm sure she'll give you a repeat
performance tomorrow."

"Couldn't we wake her now? What if she forgets by tomorrow?"

"Good point. You go ahead and wake her. I'll go to bed and you
can stay up with her the rest of the night."

"On the other hand, she's a smart kid, she'll probably have
it perfected by tomorrow. She's probably practicing in her crib
right now."

"Uh-huh. Are we going to talk about this Josh?"

"Yeah, just...not tonight, okay? Tomorrow; after we've both
had a little sleep and a little time to decompress."

"Okay. Tomorrow." Donna agreed and took Josh's hand so he
could lead her up to bed.

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

Overnight, the media outside Casa Lyman tripled. The phone rang
incessantly and Ruth finally took it off the hook. After a brief
conversation with Lou, who had already pow-wowed with Toby, they decided
that Josh would keep his original schedule, but they would cut back
anything on Donna's that had her working solo. She would join Josh
for his events and they would make no comment, no matter how much they
were provoked, except the line Toby had given Josh the night before.

Shortly before Josh was scheduled to leave, Mike Casper rang their
doorbell. As soon as Josh opened the door, questions were shouted at him
from all directions. Since Josh doubted Mike could hear him over the
melee, he gestured for him to come in and quickly shut the door.

"Aren't you Mr. Popularity?" Mike teased.

"Yeah, you say one little thing..." Josh responded. "Not that
I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?"

"I came by to wish my friend good luck with his Senate race and make
sure he was taking good care of his wife...How you doing Donna?"

"Pretty good, this morning Mike." Donna kissed his cheek.

"You ready to ditch this loser and run away with me?"

"I don't think we'd get very far. Being pregnant seems to
bring out a possessive streak in him." Donna replied.

"Where's my buddy, Nate?"

"Eating breakfast. In fact, I should go make sure he hasn't
emptied his Fruity Pebbles on the floor." Donna explained and went
back into the kitchen.

As soon as she left the room, Mike handed him 2 discs. "I was
cleaning out my desk and came across some info I though you might find
interesting. I'd put them away for now, though." Josh quickly
stuck them in his backpack.

"You going to tell me about your new career opportunity anytime
soon?" Josh asked.

"I didn't figure there was much to tell that you didn't
already know." Mike grinned.

"I am a pretty knowledgeable guy. Are you alright with the
developments?"

"I think so. It's certainly preferable to Detroit."

"Come and have some breakfast." Josh invited him. "I have to
leave in a few minutes, but I know someone who will be very happy to see
you." He said as he opened the door to the kitchen.

"Mike!" Nate shouted and got down from his toddler chair to give
Mike a cereal and syrup hug.

"Thanks kiddo." Mike laughed as Donna handed him a paper towel
to clean up. "It's good to see you too."

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

"It's Sam Seaborn for you." Liz said as she handed Josh the
phone.

"Hey, buddy, looks like you've got it sewn up over there."

"Don't `hey, buddy' me. Have you lost your mind?"
Sam shouted.

"I really thought that of the two of us you would be the calmer one
right now." Josh stated.

"Listen to me now, I'm speaking to you as your attorney."

"Does everyone forget that I graduated from Yale Law School?"

"When the F.B.I. comes to interview you about the alleged verbal
threat to a Government official, and they will, you will decline to be
interviewed until your attorney is present."

"Right."

"I'm serious Josh. You were stressed and upset when you spoke to
LeVoy, with all that emotional turmoil, it would not be unusual to have
a hard time remembering your exact words."

Josh had no difficulty reading between the lines of Sam's
directions. "I'm sorry I don't recall?" Josh laughed.
"That's your legal advice?"

"Just keep your mouth shut for now." Sam advised.

"That's going to be a little hard what with campaigning for the
Senate."

"All anyone is going to want to ask you about is a Federal
investigation about which you can not comment."

"I just need to be careful with my answers then." Josh replied.

"That's never a problem for you." Sam sighed. "How's
Donna?"

"She's better than she would have been if Ayers had gone through
with it." Josh said bitterly. He hated admitting that Colin had done
anything decent and wouldn't be caught dead giving him credit for
his actions, but deep down...he was grateful. "She's been
pretty busy puking the last few days. We're trying to limit her
schedule and her stress right now."

"Sounds like a good plan." Sam agreed. "Will you try to
remember what I told you?"

"Sure, no problem. I have an excellent memory." Josh said
agreeably and heard his friend sigh again.

"Goodbye." Sam hung up before he lost his temper.

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

As Sam predicted, Josh got hammered with questions about the
investigation and what was on the discs. Josh replied that the F.B.I.
had the discs and that he personally had never seen them. He neglected
to mention that he had received a copy of the discs from Mike. He did
the standard `I can't comment about an ongoing
investigation' routine. It was odd that Congressman LeVoy was giving
the same comment almost word for word.

"Look, I've told you people that I can not comment on an ongoing
Federal investigation. I am sure that once it is completed, I will be
completely cleared of any questionable actions that David Jordan may or
may not have committed." LeVoy tried to hold off the sharks swimming
around him, but as almost anyone can tell you, that's nearly
impossible once there's blood in the water.

"Congressman, are you saying David Jordan may have been complicit in
this but it was without your knowledge?"

"I really can't comment on what someone else may or may not have
done."

"But he's your campaign manager."

"Not any longer. He resigned last night. That's really all I can
say about that." LeVoy tried once again to extricate himself from
the reporters, and with help from his staff managed to get into his
office and shut the door behind him.

Lou watched the scene on television dispassionately. "Bastard."
She said aloud.

"He's done." Toby responded.

"He'll hang it all on Jordan." Lou argued. "Just watch.
He'll come away with a cloud, but it'll dissipate, and he'll
go on with his Congressional career while Jordan rots in jail."

"I don't think so." Toby mused. "I really don't
think so."

"We'll see." Lou turned off the television. "What else
is on our `to do' list?"

"We've got our `get out the vote' volunteers organized
and trained, the phone banks are staffed, and I've got two speeches
ready for Tuesday evening. God willing we'll be able to give one of
them early."

"You're kidding me...Two speeches, Toby?"

"Don't.." Toby warned. "Just don't say a word."
Lou smirked but nodded and Toby let out a relieved breath.

"I looks like you've got it all under control." Lou got up
to head for the door. "I'll just go order the balloons for the
victory party." She laughed at Toby's strangled curse and ducked
to avoid the marker he chucked at her.

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

"Donna, honey, go back and lay down." Ruth persuaded.

"I can do this. I can go to the one scheduled event they let me
keep." Donna said determinedly.

"And I'm sure Josh would love to have you there, but I think
throwing up the minute you smell the food at the dinner would...put
people off a bit." Ruth argued.

"I can stand the smell of chicken and they almost always have
chicken at these stupid things."

"Is that really a risk you want to take right now?" Ruth pushed.
"In this beautiful new dress?" she asked holding up Donna's
new purchase.

"You're right." Donna acquiesced. "I'll find a
different dress." Ruth let out an exasperated sigh. "You really
are a perfect match for my son; you're equally stubborn. You
haven't been able to keep anything down all day. You're going to
be weak and shaky if you try to go."

"Mommy! Mommy look!" Commanded Nate as he pulled on Donna's
hand and drew her into the hallway. "I teached her."

Caitlin was taking tentative, wobbly, steps, concentrating so intently
that when she noticed her Mother's appearance, it was enough of a
distraction to send her down on her bottom.

"Caitlin, you did it!" Donna gushed as Ruth smiled broadly.

"I did it." Nate corrected emphatically. "I teached
her."

"You TAUGHT her very well." Donna told him. "If I get the
video camera, can you get her to do it again?"

"Sure." Nate said with all the confidence of a 3 year old.

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

"Hey, I wasn't sure I was going to see you tonight." Josh
called when he caught sight of Donna. "You look beautiful." Ruth
had been explicit in her instructions to Josh; make sure she sat as much
as possible, was kept as far away from the food as possible, and tell
her she looks beautiful as often as possible.

"I wouldn't miss this. Besides, I come bearing gifts." She
handed him the videocam she had brought along.

"I really don't think tonight will be memorable enough to
videotape unless you have something planned that I don't know
about." Josh replied.

Donna rolled her eyes and Liz laughed. "It's for you to watch.
Our son has taught our daughter a new trick." Josh's eyes drew
together in puzzlement. "That's what he calls it. Take a
look."

Josh took the camera from her and hit play. He watched in wonder and
delight as his daughter took a couple steps before falling on her butt.
Then Nate would again coax her to stand and walk a bit more. The scene
replayed a few times before the tape went black.

"Holy...Our daughter is walking!" Josh turned to Liz.
"Look at this!"

"I saw it while we were waiting for you to arrive." Liz smiled.
One of the things she liked most about working for Josh Lyman was his
natural exuberance for and about his family. "Would you like me to
hold that for you while you two go in?"

"Hell, no. I'm going to show it to anyone who stands still next
to me." Josh announced. "Isn't it pretty early for her to be
walking? She's just 9 months old."

"It's a little early, but she's definitely trying to keep up
with her brother so that may have sped up her timetable." Donna told
him.

"Nate may have helped, but I'm thinking it was the overachieving
Lyman genes coming into play here." Josh teased her.

"Naturally." Donna said drolly while he took her arm and led her
into the banquet room. If she noticed that he steered her clear of the
buffet table, and anyone holding food from the buffet table, she
didn't mention it.

Most of the attendees had spent big bucks for the privilege of
hobnobbing with the Democratic elite in Connecticut; including the
current Governor, but it was Donna that garnered the most attention that
night.

Donna preferred to think they were interested in her rather than think
they wanted to see her reaction to comments about LeVoy or the package
that arrived at her husband's office that set off a Federal
investigation. But it was a hard illusion to hang on to given the
circumstances.

Josh had set Donna at a table with Liz as a guard dog while he made the
mandatory rounds. This didn't keep him from keeping an eye on her
himself, though, so he noticed when her head began bobbing down as the
exhaustion took over. He though about sending her home with Liz, but
almost immediately discarded that idea. Her pregnancy and the events of
the past couple days gave him the perfect excuse to get out of this zoo
a little early. He walked up behind Donna and dropped a kiss on her
head.

"Let's go home."

"You can't leave yet." She protested. "I can go
ahead."

"Nope. We go together. Liz do you need a ride?" Josh asked
thoughtfully.

"I'm good." Liz slid her gaze over to someone else and then
brought it quickly back to Josh. "I'll be fine. Go ahead."

"Goodnight, then. Thanks for everything today." Josh remembered
to tell her. With a little help from Donna he was getting better at
that. Josh gently pulled his wife up to standing and waving his
goodnights as they passed through the room took her to the car and then
home.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

Chapter 17

Election Day would start in just 2 more hours...Josh used Donna as an
excuse to cut out early from the last scheduled campaign event.

It wasn't that it held a great deal of suspense, at least not in
Josh's case. The numbers that had tilted in his favor a bit
previously, had turned into an avalanche since his confrontation with
Ted LeVoy. No matter that Toby wouldn't let him say it out loud,
Josh knew he would be elected Senator for the State of Connecticut
tomorrow. It wasn't ego or over-confidence, he'd simply examined
the numbers, and the numbers told him the story. Numbers, unlike people,
couldn't deceive you.

Here he was on the eve of victory (shut up Toby) for himself, President
Santos, and if luck held, a Democratic majority in the Senate, yet he
was inexplicably depressed.

"Josh, Nate is still up. Can you try to get him down?" Donna
told him. Josh nodded and got up to go to his son. "He's already
had two books. Don't let him con you into a third." Donna gave
him a meaningful stare. It was a widely accepted fact that Josh was the
weak link when it came to bedtime rituals.

"I have gone toe to toe with President's, Princes, and even a
First Lady or two. I resent your constant implications that our son can
pull things over on me. I can handle a three year old, Donnatella."

"There's been no evidence of it so far." Donna said under
her breath.

"I heard that Donna!" Josh called from where he was climbing the
stairs.

"That's good, because most men of your advanced age start
experiencing hearing loss."

"Ha, ha, ha." Josh replied quietly and pushed the door open to
see his son playing with his action figures at the foot of his bed.

"Daddy!" Nate launched himself off the bed and into his
Dad's arms. "You're home! Are you all done running now?"
Josh smiled thinking now was not the time to bring up re-election.

"Yeah, I'm all done running now. How come you're not
asleep?"

"I just can't sleep." Nate answered solemnly shaking his
head in the negative.

"Why not?"

"I think I need a story." Nate told him.

"A story, huh? The two stories your Mom told you weren't
enough?" Josh asked tongue in cheek.

Nate startled momentarily. He could never figure out how his Mom and Dad
just KNEW things, but he wasn't the first born child of two
political strategists for nothing. "Your stories are better than
mommy's." he returned and batted his eyes while forming a Donna
like pout on his face. Josh knew that imitation pout was the reason he
let Nate get by with most of what he did. Josh figured Nate knew it too.

"If I read you a story, then you go to sleep. No more getting out of
bed, no more asking for water, or reporting monsters in your room; got
it?"

"Two stories." Nate argued as held up to sticky fingers.

"One." Josh held firm.

"One story and a song." Nate offered.

A song? This was a new development. "You want a song?" Josh
confirmed.

"Caitlin always gets a song." Nate reasoned. `Ah,'
thought Josh, `now I get it.'

"What song do you want?"

"Not a baby song." Nate specified.

"Okay, one story and one song, that is not a baby song, and then you
go to bed?"

"Deal." Nate held out his hand in the time honored tradition of
men sealing a deal.

That is how it came to be that Donna Moss Lyman found the next Senator
from Connecticut singing "I'm a Believer" while her son
giggled.

"Are you sure that's not a baby song?" Nate asked while he
laughed.

"Don't interrupt me kiddo." Josh accented his command with
strategic tickling. "Now you have to sing, too. It goes `Then I
saw her face...Now I'm a believer'." Nate tried to imitate
his Dad and Donna was sure that if they had a dog, it would have been
howling.

"I hate to interrupt the concert, but it is WAY past bedtime."
Donna broke in.

"Daddy wanted to sing first." Nate tattled.

"Excuse me? Who insisted on me singing a song and reading a story
because `you tell them better than mommy'?" Josh quoted.
Nate shrugged his shoulders and looked innocent.

"Joshua Lyman, it's time to go to bed. Say goodnight to your
son." Donna tried to keep a straight face, but lost it before she
left the room.

"You think you were pretty funny back there, didn't you? Ganging
up on me with my son?"

"It got you out of the funk you were in, didn't it?"

"How did you know I was in a funk? I just got home." Josh
protested.

"I can tell these things." Donna replied. "As much as you
wanted to win, this isn't the way you wanted to do it."

"No, it really isn't." Josh said quietly as he sat next to
his wife.

"He got desperate." Donna surmised. "People do stupid things
when they are very desperate or very angry. Don't they?"

"I guess." Josh admitted, knowing full well she was referring to
his heated exchange with LeVoy as much as LeVoy's actions that
precipitated it. "I just saw red. All the way there I thought about
everything I would do and say when I was face to face with him."
Josh paused and let out a long breath. "Toby accused me of acting
na‹ve on the way back, but it wasn't na‹vet‚, it was
just...personal."

"I know."

"God knows we've both lived through nasty shit; Rosslyn, M.S.,
Gaza, but none of it was directed at us personally. This was personal.
He was prepared to not only drag you through mud, but manufacture
evidence to do it."

"But Josh, that wasn't personal either." Donna argued and
cut Josh off before he could protest. "I know it feels that way, but
it truly wasn't. He used whatever means he had at his disposal to
win. I think what's bothering you, is that you're afraid you
might be a little like him."

"How can you say that?"

"I didn't say I believed that. I said I think you're afraid
it might be true. You've certainly played hardball against political
opponents."

"Yes, but there are lines, Donna; bringing out something someone did
or said is different from making it up."

"I know that. I just wanted to be sure you knew that about you
too."

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

"How come I can't vote?" Nate asked when they entered their
polling place.

"The law says you have to be 18 years old before you can vote."
Donna explained.

"That's dumb." Nate announced.

Donna leaned down and whispered in his ear. "You can help me
vote." Nate smiled wide and went into the booth with his mother.
When they exited a couple minutes later, Nate called to his dad.

"We voted for you, Daddy. Who did you vote for?" The assembled
group of press and voters laughed. Many pictures were snapped of the
Lyman trio; Caitlin and Ruth had stayed at home.

Congressman LeVoy and his family also made the news as they voted, but
the questions thrown at him weren't nearly as innocuous.

Josh got a call that afternoon regarding that very matter.

"I heard that Jordan is willing to roll on LeVoy in exchange for
immunity." Mike Casper told him.

"How is it that you're hearing things about a F.B.I.
investigation from over in the Treasury Department?

"I have excellent hearing. It's a department requirement."
Mike quipped. "If you have any objections, you should make them
known now."

"I don't. Jordan is a guppy. I want the Marlin." Josh tossed
a glance across the room where his Mother, wife, and children were
playing.

"I hear you. How is Donna doing?"

"Well, she hasn't thrown up in the last 6 hours, so things are
looking up." Josh replied.

"Well, that's great, I guess." Mike said hesitantly, unsure
of what the right response should be. "I just wanted to say that
I'm sorry I can't be there with you tonight."

"Don't worry about it." Josh assured him. "We'll get
together when we get back to D.C." Josh hung up the phone, grateful
he had friends like Mike.

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

Josh was pretending to read the paper and ignore the television in his
office when the door opened suddenly to reveal Sam Seaborn and a tiny
baby girl. Josh sat up, stunned by the sight of his friend in his house.

"Sam?" Josh got up to greet his friend. "Why aren't you
in D.C. with the President?"

"Apparently he got a note from Donna excusing me from work for a
couple days." Sam grinned.

"I don't doubt it." Josh moved to take the baby from
Sam's arms. "Let me see this beautiful girl. Aisnley let's
you carry her around all by yourself?"

"Of course...for short periods of time...as long as I'm
within shouting distance of her." Sam teased.

"God, she's gorgeous." Josh mused. "You're lucky she
takes after her mother in looks."

"Why thank you." Ainsley responded from the door. Josh turned to
give her a kiss on the cheek.

"You did very well here, Ains." Josh told her. "How's
motherhood?"

"Tiring." Ainsley replied. "But it's the most amazing
thing I've ever done."

"We've ever done." Sam corrected.

"When you carry a child for nine months and labor for hours pushing
it out of your body, then you talk about your sense of
accomplishment." Ainsley shot back.

"Right." Sam agreed and shared a conspiratorial grin with Josh.
Donna appeared in the doorway with Caitlin taking steps while holding
Donna's hands.

"Sam, check this out." Josh commanded. "Come here, Caitlin.
Come see Daddy."

Caitlin's face lit up as she spotted her Dad and took 4 good steps
before she landed on her butt. The crowd roared.

"That's my girl." Josh told her and picked her up.

"She deserves a treat." Ainsley agreed. "How about some
food? There wasn't anything on the flight. I would kill for a
hamburger."

At the mention of hamburger, Donna turned green and fled the room.
Ainsley looked horrified.

"Don't worry, she's been like that lately. We'll just go
eat on the deck where she can't see or smell it." Josh assured
them.

"Okay..." Sam responded.

"It's not that big a deal, and I've lost 5 pounds since she
got pregnant and I can't eat in front of her anymore." Josh
threw over his shoulder as he led them to kitchen.



Title: On the Run

Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)

Category: Future Fic

Disclaimer: Just borrowing from Sorkin who is busy with studio 60 right
now.

Feedback: Pretty please?

A/N: Thanks to everyone for their feedback. It's great to hear thoughts
and ideas from all of you.

Josh took many calls that night, he had to bite his tongue during
LeVoy's concession call, but the one he relished the most was from
Jed Bartlet.

"You did a great job, Joshua. I'm proud of you." Jed
related. "Even when you were spouting off things you certainly
can't remember you said now."

"Yes, sir. Thanks." Josh said sincerely.

"What do you suppose your Dad is saying to Leo right now?"

"Holy shit, those idiots are sending my son to the Senate. Good
thing he has Donna with him to make sure he doesn't mess up too
badly."

"I imagine that's about right." Jed laughed. "I never
said I appreciated the way you stood by me in the debate...and
afterwards." He added sincerely.

"That's not necessary, sir."

"You could have scored some political points by distancing yourself
from me."

"I would never do that, Mr. President." Josh replied.

"More the fool, you." Jed said chuckling. "I'll let you
get back to your well deserved victory party. I just wanted to let you
know I'm proud of you and that I know you're going to do great
things in the Senate."

"That means more to me than you could ever know, sir."

"Goodnight...Senator." Jed added as he hung up the phone. Josh
simply stood there for a minute.

"You alright?" Sam asked, practically shouting to be heard over
the crowd of people there celebrating.

"That was the President...Bartlet." Josh clarified when Sam
looked at him oddly. "He said he was proud of me; that he knew
I'd do great things in the Senate."

Sam smiled in understanding. "Kind of humbles you, doesn't
it?"

"Unbelievably. God, please don't let him be wrong." Josh put
his arm around Sam's shoulder. "Let's find our women and
have a drink."

"That's the best idea I've heard all day." Sam agreed.

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

Hours later, after settling the Seaborn clan in the guest room, Josh and
Donna dropped tiredly into bed.

"That was really great; how you got Sam and Ainsley and Addy here
tonight." Josh told Donna as he pulled her close to him and kissed
her forehead.

"President Santos was happy to help with the plans." Donna
replied.

"I bet he was. He had quite the victory tonight." Josh noted.

"You had a hand in that too." Donna reminded him. "He would
never have been elected in the first place if you hadn't gone after
him in Houston."

"As much as my ego appreciates the effort, I don't really think
I can take all the credit there."

"Well, neither do I." Donna stated in a matter of fact tone.

"There's the woman I know and love." Josh kissed her again
and chuckled.

"After all, if I hadn't left the White House-"

"To work for Bingo Bob." Josh interrupted.

"To work for the Vice-President, it might never have occurred to you
to recruit Matt Santos."

"Somehow, I knew it would all come back to you." Josh teased
her. "Donna...what are you doing?"

"If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong."

"You really haven't been doing so hot lately...I mean with
your stomach." Josh hastened to add before a mis-statement turned
into a wicked debate or things got thrown at him. Donna was rather
volatile when she was pregnant.

"I'm fine at the moment." She assured him.

"Yeah, but how likely is that to last?"

"Long enough, Lyman, unless you say the wrong thing right now."

"No chance of that `cause I'm not saying another word."
Josh decided and used his mouth in other ways.

"Excellent use of oral argument, Mr. Senator-elect." Donna
approved.

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

"Senator Lyman, would you care to comment on the victory of your
reform bill today?"

"It was a victory for working families, Alex. I'm very pleased
that we were able to shame enough of my Republican brethren to make it a
bi-partisan vote." Josh noted as he entered his office.

"Senator, you have a 1:00 appointment waiting for you." Liz told
him.

"I thought my afternoon was clear until 3." Josh shook his head
in puzzlement. It was a running joke that Liz had to write his next
appointment on his hand in order to get him off the Senate floor on
time. After double checking his hand, Josh asked.

"Who is it?"

"Visiting constituents from Connecticut." Liz replied and Josh
rolled his eyes. He had just spent the last few days fighting tooth and
nail, and several Republicans, to get this bill passed; he really
didn't feel like schmoozing.

"Sam!" Josh shouted and Sam's head popped out of the
doorway. "$50 bucks if you take this meeting for me."

"I'm pretty sure that's not in my job description as your
Chief of Staff and I'm definitely sure I'd be a disappointment
to whomever is waiting to see Senator Lyman." Sam refused.

"$100 and that's all I've got on me right now."

"If you have half of that on you right now, I'll take your
meeting." Sam bet him. Senator Lyman NEVER had cash on him.

"Shit." Josh muttered and walked to his office door trying to
ignore Liz and Sam laughing at him.

He opened his door to find his wife and children waiting for him. Nate
was spinning in Josh's Chair and Caitlin was busy drawing on
something that Josh sincerely hoped he didn't need. Their youngest
child, Ava, was sound asleep in her stroller. Donna was reading through
her textbook and busily making note cards.

"This is a pleasant surprise." Josh spoke aloud and had his two
oldest children running into his arms.

"Daddy we came for a lunch meeting." Nate told him.

"Yeah, lunch." Caitlin echoed. "Pizza."

Josh smirked, his daughter Caitlin was a pizza eating machine. If he
hadn't been in the delivery room himself, he'd swear he got
Ainsley's child.

"Pizza?" Josh echoed. "Did Mom okay pizza for lunch?"

"We want lunch with YOU." Nate wheedled.

"I'll bet." Josh agreed and kissed his wife.

"Ick!" Nate cried. He was going through the typical pre-school
phase where girls had germs, and no boy in their right mind wanted to
get too close to them.

"Talk to me again in 10 years kiddo." Josh kissed Donna again.

"You did good today." She said. "Liz said you were free, so
we thought we'd reward you with lunch."

"Pizza!" Caitlin tried again while jumping up and down.

"We'll see." Donna negotiated. "People would have to
behave very, very well in Daddy's office to get pizza." Caitlin
sat down again with a thump and Nate quit spinning in the chair.

"That's amazing, Donnatella. You should really take this act on
the road."

"I thought I already had." She replied. "A quick lunch
everybody, then Mommy's got to finish studying." Donna had
started back to school when they came back to D.C. and with the credit
for work experience, she would have her long sought after degree in
another year. Thankfully, since they had talked Ruth Lyman into moving
to D.C. with them, she had lots of help with her troupe.

"I'm glad you came to have lunch with me today." Josh told
Nate as his son took his hand.

"I like your office." Nate told him. "When I get big,
I'm gonna run too."

"I'll bet you will, kiddo. I'll just bet you will." Josh
shared a smile with Donna and his heart turned over at the thought.


The End.