![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
FF: In Plain Sight Josh/Donna - PG-13
Disclaimers: I own nothing, I’m making nothing… these wonderful characters were created by Aaron Sorkin and belong to Sorkin, Wells and NBC. I’m just taking them out for a spin and will return when I’ve finished with them. Although I might need to hang on to Josh for a while …
Being anally retentive about that sort of thing, I proofed it myself, so any mistakes are mine!
Category/Pairing: Josh/Donna.
Spoilers: Throughout the series and beyond!
Rating: PG-13 (language)
A/N: Written for the 2008![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sorkin_fest ficathon. The prompt was –
“Everyone knows about Josh’s feelings for Donna. He’s not cryptic.”
A/N 2: Thanks, as ever, to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
coloneljack and zinke for their help and encouragement. And a special thank you to Mr Coloneljack for his help with the Italian. Grazie!
In Plain Sight
1. Sam
She goes out with guys. Are you jealous?
Josh left the room, Donna keeping pace with his quick stride, her hair billowing around her shoulders, the two of them accelerating to their usual breakneck speed as she hustled him away to whatever meeting he was late for that morning.
Sam sat back in his chair and continued to watch them until they disappeared from view.
Well. That had been a very odd conversation.
Okay, so maybe it hadn’t been odd. Not exactly. After all, this was Josh. And Donna.
So it was bound to have been - unusual.
Or somewhat out of the ordinary, at the very least.
Sam, like practically everyone else in the West Wing – hell, practically everyone else in Washington - knew that there was definitely something … peculiar about Josh’s relationship with Donna. And not just because they talked in a weird kind of code half the time, finished each other’s sentences and mocked each other with regularity; or because she stole his food and he ridiculed her boyfriends.
Although now Sam came to think of it, that could definitely be categorized as weird.
But - Josh didn’t like Donna going on dates? And actively tried to sabotage them?
He genuinely hadn’t expected to hear anything like that in response to his question.
Not that Sam had ever thought there was anything going on between Josh and Donna that there shouldn’t be – it was just… He had no problems with Cathy going on dates. He didn’t make her come back to work afterwards, or cut her evenings short because he’d booked a late meeting. But then, Cathy didn’t eat lunch with him nearly every day, or steal his food – unless it was donuts, which she appeared to love with a passion, but then she didn’t actually steal his, per se, they were just - you know, general, all-purpose office donuts that could -
Okay, he sighed to himself. So here was the thing.
Sam knew from bitter experience how something completely innocent could be turned into something it wasn’t. How there were many who considered that appearances were just as – if not more – important than truth and who would no doubt like to have some mud to sling at Josh. The rumors about him and Donna had started up almost immediately after they’d taken office, and despite the fact that it hadn’t taken most people all that long to realize that Donna was in her job for no other reason than because she was damn good at it - the gossip still persisted.
But it was just that – stereotypical office gossip that was bound to make the rounds when a powerful man hired a much younger and extremely attractive – and extremely under-qualified – female assistant. But being clichéd didn’t make the situation right. Just – normal.
Sam shook his head as he stood and walked around the table, remembering for the first time in months the moment last summer when Toby had been the only one of them able to impart the terrible news about Josh - recalled how Donna’s reaction had said far more than any words ever could, the depth of her shock and despair seeming to permeate the small waiting room. That was when he’d known for sure that her feelings for her boss ran far deeper than anyone had previously suspected.
But Josh didn’t have the faintest idea, Sam was pretty sure of that. Besides, he’d had a bit of a crush on Joey Lucas - which Donna had obviously noticed, and was, it seemed, supporting – and given that, and all the other things which were clamouring for his attention, his own creative drought not least among them, Sam had had neither the time nor the inclination to ponder the mysterious ways of Josh and Donna – until that morning.
And now, it looked as though Donna wasn’t alone - that she was as oblivious in her way as Josh was in his; because it was clear to Sam that Josh felt a lot more for her than even he appeared to realize. He’d been quite categorical – he didn’t like Donna dating and there was, surely, only one reason for a guy to feel that way about a woman to whom he wasn’t related.
Although – and here, Sam would be the first to admit he had no clue about the inner workings of the female mind – why on earth, if Donna was in love with Josh, she would be encouraging him to pursue another woman was anybody’s guess and enough to give a sane person a headache.
And so, to summarize.
Donna loved Josh but went on dates anyway. Which Josh had just admitted to doing his best to sabotage.
Just how stupid were these people?
Josh might be a few years Sam’s senior, but there were times when Sam felt as though he was by far the elder. Because seriously - ridiculing a woman’s choice in men and interfering with her dates? Not the best way to endear yourself to her. It was almost as though Josh hadn’t progressed beyond elementary school in the relationship department and was stuck at the stage of making fun of the girl he liked.
Sam left the room to begin the walk back to his office, his mind already racing through his schedule for the rest of the morning - when he found himself suddenly feeling hungry. He stopped, realizing he should have known a breakfast meeting with the President was unlikely to include any actual food and turned, wandering off instead in the direction of the Mess. Was it too early in the morning for Ainsley to have gone in search of a muffin..?
2. Amy
Are you dating your assistant?
Amy got up from her chair and walked to the window. So the rumors weren’t true after all, but it was always best to check these things out. She hadn’t been quite sure whether or not to believe the gossip about Josh and his pretty, blonde assistant – after all, it was fairly old gossip by now and to be honest, it was rather surprising that the idea that a high-ranking government official was probably screwing his secretary was still a cause for chatter. Although in Amy’s experience, there was rarely any smoke without fire, and the fact that the rumors had persisted despite Josh’s supposed interest in Joey Lucas had lent a certain air of credibility to them; or had at least made them seem vaguely plausible. And as for the assistant, well she was the classic stereotype - blonde, leggy, good figure, very pretty, the kind of woman any man would lust after, and who many would have fucked without a second thought.
But not Josh, apparently. No, his denial had been swift and as unequivocal as a guy like Josh was ever likely to get. And if he wasn’t dating his assistant, then it appeared he wasn’t dating anybody. Which meant…
Because, seriously, he was hot. How the hell could she have missed that? Amy was sure he’d not been so damn cute in college – although admittedly, she’d been somewhat preoccupied with Josh’s roommate and hadn’t really noticed Josh very much, other than to think he was a bit mouthy, very opinionated and couldn’t hold his liquor - and that he seemed to be an ‘all work and no play’ type of guy.
Of course, she’d seen him around over the past few years. DC was a company town and they moved in similar circles after all, but so far their paths had crossed only briefly; a nod of acknowledgement here, a “Good to see you,” there, brief smiles from tables across the room at a speech or dinner, Josh surrounded by eager lobbyists or numerous congressional aides vying for his attention – his assistant ever present at his side.
Amy realised she couldn’t just let him leave without some sort of gesture, but she certainly wasn’t about to chase down the stairs after him. He knew where to find her – obviously – and she hadn’t been born yesterday; she knew when a man was interested in her, and Josh was definitely interested. He’d gone out of his way so that he could see her again - and the way he’d smiled at her just now… well, the effect was akin to having been hit by a truck. It was a good thing she’d been sitting down.
She smiled to herself. Guys like him really did need to be hit over the head. Well, perhaps not literally, but… she walked back to her desk, opened a drawer, took out a new balloon and picked up her bottle of water.
3. Jack
I’m new here and I want to do well and I don’t… uh, want to get in between anything.
Well, that had been weird. Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff who must surely have a million and one other things to do had made a point – not once, but twice – of engaging him in a conversation about his assistant, Donna. Although it seemed that weird could well be the norm around here, because seriously, a candle-smuggling-Republican-voting-Democrat? What were the odds?
And her boss had come down here to tell him she wanted to go out with him? Jack leaned back in his chair and wondered for a brief second if he’d walked into the local elementary school instead of the White House this morning. Of if by some strange quirk of fate, he’d taken a wrong turn on the way to work and ended up in some kind of alternate universe. Because in what version of ‘normal’ would a guy who was clearly interested in a woman go out of his way to set her up with someone else? And Lyman was obviously attracted to Donna. Jack hadn’t been kidding when he’d pointed out that Josh had done practically nothing but talk about her for the entirety of their very short acquaintance, and in his mind, there was no other reason a man would be so effusive about a woman.
And she was a very attractive woman. No, more than that – she was gorgeous. And as it appeared that her boss’s feelings weren’t reciprocated, that meant … she was available.
Jack smiled and reached for the phone.
4. Leo
If there’s someplace you’d rather be, everyone would understand.
Leo sighed as he watched Josh break into a jog down the corridor. If he’d had the time, the inclination or, to be honest, the faith, maybe he’d have taken a moment to rail at a God who could let something like this happen to a man who had done nothing but try to do good for most of his adult life. His sister, his father and now… the woman he loved. When would it end?
And what was more - Josh never complained. God knew, he had every right to - but he didn’t. He’d accepted the hand life had dealt him and turned his energies in another direction; which Leo knew, better than anyone, took incredible strength and determination. Even now, with Donna lying thousands of miles away, injured, Leo knew Josh would never have asked for permission to leave so that he could be with her. He’d have seen it as selfish, as a desertion of duty although quite frankly, if killing everyone who’d been involved with the bombing was Josh’s idea of a good move, then they were probably better off without him anyway.
And so Leo had packed him off to Germany. For a brief moment, he’d expected Josh to offer another half-hearted protest, at which point it would have been impossible for Leo to have repeated his offer – but Josh had taken him at his word and if Leo knew him at all, had stopped only to grab his passport and was now on his way to the airport.
Josh was finally waking up to the fact that he had something in his life that was more important to him than his job - and it was about damn time. He might not realize it yet, but he’d made his choice, and Leo was proud of him for it – proud and relieved. Proud because Josh had elected to put something other than work first; and relieved because it meant (he hoped) that the younger man wouldn’t make the same mistakes Leo himself had made in his own personal life.
Not that he expended a great deal of time and energy thinking about the private lives of his staff, but Leo had known for some time that Josh’s feelings for Donna were more than those of simple friendship; the kid hadn’t exactly been subtle that Christmas a couple of years back when he’d tried to insist that he was glad Donna was spending the holidays with her boyfriend. Come to think of it, Josh hadn’t exactly been subtle at all when it came to Donna. Oh, he sure as hell hadn’t let her see anything, but the way he looked at her, the way he talked about her, the affection in his voice, in his eyes… Leo had been deeply in love once and he knew it when he saw it. And he was almost certain that Donna felt the same – she was as inept at hiding her feelings as Josh was – well, from everyone but Josh, obviously; and why on earth the pair of them seemed hell-bent on denying it was something he had neither the time nor the inclination to even attempt to work out. Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t have looked good for Josh to have dated his subordinate – there were rules about that sort of thing for a reason – but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t have handled. Donna was very capable, there were other opportunities open to her – and in any case, anyone with eyes and half a brain would have been able to see their relationship for what it was.
A soft cough coming from behind him alerted Leo to Charlie’s presence and he turned quickly.
“Leo?” The younger man was watching him expectantly. “They’re waiting for you.”
Leo pursed his lips, nodded – “Okay,” and walked purposefully towards the Oval Office.
5. Will
I just want to make sure I'm not starting a turf war. I'd hate to find the Deputy Chief of Staff at my door with a switchblade.
He hadn’t been kidding. Well, okay, maybe about the turf war and the switchblade, but making an enemy of Josh Lyman wasn’t something anyone in this town ever did lightly.
Because although she’d said otherwise, Will couldn’t help feeling that he was poaching Donna. Of course, had it been Bonnie or Ginger or any one of the other assistants in the West Wing he wouldn’t be having this problem; but this was Donna Moss. Donna Moss who had been Josh’s right hand for years. Donna Moss who, Will was pretty sure, was a lot more to Josh than just his assistant. Because no question, Toby Ziegler would have bundled five of them into a cab and driven through the snow to go throw snowballs at Ginger’s window if she’d not turned up at the Inaugural Ball last January.
Will knew there was nothing going on between Josh and Donna. But from what he’d seen that night, and on other occasions – like when Josh had wanted to carpet-bomb the middle east when Donna had been injured - there was no question in Will’s mind that Josh would like there to be. Which was understandable – Donna was smart, compassionate, funny – as well as being very beautiful and surely any man with a pulse and eyes in his head would be attracted to her… yet Josh had never overstepped the mark. Which, Will thought, showed remarkable restraint. No wonder Josh was so cranky half the time.
And Donna was obviously very capable. She’d learned a lot in her years at the White House and Will hadn’t been lying when he’d said she’d have her own areas of responsibility on the campaign. And the fact that she knew Josh pretty much inside out could prove to be an added bonus if Josh changed his mind about Hoynes or if the whispers Will had begun to hear about the possibility of another candidate emerging from left-field turned out to be true. Will knew he was no Josh Lyman and having ‘inside information’ on the likely stratagems of an opponent would give him a useful edge.
So – turf war or no turf war, Donna was on the team.
Although he’d prefer the latter option.
6. Lou
I don't know what the problem is between you two, but she's great on television and I don't care if she worked for Francisco Franco in the primaries, right now it's all hands on deck. So work it out.
What the hell did it matter that Donna Moss had been Josh’s assistant at the White House? Lou made it her business to know all there was to know about the people she hired, so she was well aware that Donna had worked for Bob Russell and for Josh before that. And although Lou wasn’t really one to have given credence to it – or to care about it all that much – if the gossip that had been prevalent at one time was to be believed, Donna had done a damn sight more than just work for Josh.
And so what if she had? All Lou cared about was that Donna was personable, smart and good at her job. The fact that she might also turn out to be a bit of a thorn in Josh Lyman’s side – or even, perhaps, his Achilles heel – was just an added bonus as far as she was concerned.
That said though, while she saw it as part of her mission in life – well, on this campaign anyway – to get in Josh’s face and point out his shortcomings, he’d nonetheless managed to pull off one hell of a political coup; and she couldn’t deny – well, other than to Josh and to anyone else who might ask - that she had a sneaking respect for him. In fact there were times she almost liked him.
Although she’d refute that as well.
At first, Lou had thought it strange that Josh didn’t talk much about his time at the White House. Strange that someone with his reputation for ego wasn’t bragging about past victories or winning strategies at every available opportunity; and Lou had gradually come to realize that perhaps there was something he’d left behind that he didn’t want to talk about or remember, because she’d definitely gotten the impression on more than one occasion that there was something … for want of a better word, haunting him.
And it had begun to dawn on her recently that perhaps it wasn’t a something, but a someone.
Because on the few occasions Josh had referred to something that had happened during his tenure as Bartlet’s Deputy Chief of Staff, he’d never mentioned Donna. Not once. There had been times when he’d been in the middle of an explanation and he’d suddenly reined himself in, his face clouding over for a split second before he changed the subject and carried on as if he hadn’t been saying something else immediately before.
And then, this afternoon, the first thing Josh had said to her when she’d gotten back wasn’t to ask how her meeting with Bruno had gone, whether she’d managed to secure the debates they wanted; no – the first words out of his mouth had been about Donna. To complain about the fact that she’d hired his former assistant without consulting him and to try to throw his weight around a bit - but Lou was having none of it. Whatever pangs of unrequited love or sexual frustration Josh Lyman was suffering were none of her concern and right now, he’d have to suck it up, because Donna was good, and they needed people like her on the campaign. Nevertheless, there was obviously… something between them, and her instinct told her that it ran pretty deep – but whatever it was, it would have to keep. They would have to find a way to work together without killing each other or screwing each other senseless, and as long as Lou didn’t have to decide which was the preferable alternative, she’d be okay with whatever they worked out.
But she was determined not to let them out of that room until they had reached some sort of détente. Although maybe, given that last thing, leaving them alone in a bedroom hadn’t been such a great idea.
Crap.
She just hoped she wasn’t going to go back in there and find them in a sweaty heap on the bed, because the last thing she needed right now was another media frenzy about the sexual prowess of high-ranking members of the campaign. ‘Hurricane Santos’ had been bad enough – if she heard so much as a whisper about ‘Typhoon Lyman’, somebody would be in for the ass-kicking of their life. And now, dammit, she was going to be stuck with that in her head for the rest of the day because she doubted there was enough industrial strength cleaner in the world to expunge that image from her mind.
Epilogue
“Donna Moss.”
“Hey. How long does it take you to pack a suitcase?”
“Is that a trick question?”
“What?”
“You know, ‘How many Republicans does it take to change a lightbulb?’, that sort of thing?”
“What? No. It’s – I just meant, how long would it take you to pack a bag? For a vacation. Or something.”
“A vacation or something? Josh – what’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on. Well, not exactly.”
“Joshua.”
“It’s – I just thought… it’s April, and it’s been ten years and I didn’t think flowers would suitably mark such an auspicious occasion.”
“What are you – ? April.”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
“That’s it? Just ‘oh’?”
“Well, ‘oh’, as in –‘oh, you’re never going to let me forget that, are you?’ and also as in, ‘oh, so that’s what you’ve been up to’.”
“What do you mean, that’s what I’ve been up to?”
“Are you going to repeat everything I say? Because it’s not dignified.”
“I’m not - ”
“Josh, you’re not that stealthy.”
“I’m the epitome of stealth; in fact - ”
“You’re really not.”
“Do you want to go to Italy or not?”
“We’re not going to Italy.”
“And how do you figure that?”
“Remember the not stealthy thing?”
“Yes.”
“That.”
“Because?”
“If you really had been stealthy, you wouldn’t have left all those travel brochures lying around.”
“I didn’t leave – you were snooping.”
“Why on earth would I -?”
“Don’t change the subject – you were snooping.”
“I was doing no such thing.”
“I didn’t leave any brochures lying around.”
“You did.”
“They were under the bed!”
“And very inventive that was, too. I mean, most men keep their stash of porn magazines under the bed, but you keep travel brochures.”
“Nice try. And I’m not ‘most men’ – but you were still snooping.”
“I was - ”
“Yes?”
“Cleaning.”
“Cleaning?”
“Yes.”
“Under the bed.”
“Yes.”
“Since when do you clean under the bed?”
“Since it gets dusty and… fluffy under there, and - ”
“Okay, that’s thirty seconds of my life I’ll never get back, so can we just, you know, move on from under the bed, you admit you were snooping and – wait, what makes you think we’re not going to Italy?”
“Remember the not - ?”
“Yeah, yeah…”
“And I found brochures for Caribbean cruises and - ”
“Well, there will be water and boats involved, but you’re way off base.”
“Ships.”
“Sorry?”
“They’re not boats, they’re ships.”
“If you say so. But I think they call them Gondolas, actually.”
“What?”
“You’ve been saying you wanted to go to Venice.”
“But - ”
“So your Italian had better be as good as you’ve been telling me it is.”
“My God, Josh… we’re really going to Venice?”
“Yep.”
“You know you sound really smug right now.”
“I do. But I think I deserve it, don’t you?”
“Si, caro, ma non sto andando ammettere che a voi in qualsiasi lingua voi capite.”
“Now you’re just showing off.”
“Ed amo quando siete compiaciuto.”
“Donna…”
“Ma non sto andando ammettere che neanche.”
“Oh, God. Donna…”
“…non avete idea quanto voglio svestire te proprio adesso …”
“I have no idea what you’re saying…”
“… per le cose illecite voglio fare al vostro corpo.”
“… and right now, I don’t care – we’re outta here.”
“Josh! It’s the middle of the afternoon.”
“So? It’s a slow day.”
“Maybe, but if we leave now, everyone’ll think you’re taking me home to have your wicked way with me!”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly planning on taking out an ad in the Post.”
“Josh, you won’t need to – you’re really not cryptic.”
“And are you complaining?”
“Hell, no.”
“See you in twenty?”
“Make it fifteen.”
End.
Being anally retentive about that sort of thing, I proofed it myself, so any mistakes are mine!
Category/Pairing: Josh/Donna.
Spoilers: Throughout the series and beyond!
Rating: PG-13 (language)
A/N: Written for the 2008
sorkin_fest ficathon. The prompt was – “Everyone knows about Josh’s feelings for Donna. He’s not cryptic.”
A/N 2: Thanks, as ever, to
coloneljack and zinke for their help and encouragement. And a special thank you to Mr Coloneljack for his help with the Italian. Grazie!In Plain Sight
1. Sam
She goes out with guys. Are you jealous?
Josh left the room, Donna keeping pace with his quick stride, her hair billowing around her shoulders, the two of them accelerating to their usual breakneck speed as she hustled him away to whatever meeting he was late for that morning.
Sam sat back in his chair and continued to watch them until they disappeared from view.
Well. That had been a very odd conversation.
Okay, so maybe it hadn’t been odd. Not exactly. After all, this was Josh. And Donna.
So it was bound to have been - unusual.
Or somewhat out of the ordinary, at the very least.
Sam, like practically everyone else in the West Wing – hell, practically everyone else in Washington - knew that there was definitely something … peculiar about Josh’s relationship with Donna. And not just because they talked in a weird kind of code half the time, finished each other’s sentences and mocked each other with regularity; or because she stole his food and he ridiculed her boyfriends.
Although now Sam came to think of it, that could definitely be categorized as weird.
But - Josh didn’t like Donna going on dates? And actively tried to sabotage them?
He genuinely hadn’t expected to hear anything like that in response to his question.
Not that Sam had ever thought there was anything going on between Josh and Donna that there shouldn’t be – it was just… He had no problems with Cathy going on dates. He didn’t make her come back to work afterwards, or cut her evenings short because he’d booked a late meeting. But then, Cathy didn’t eat lunch with him nearly every day, or steal his food – unless it was donuts, which she appeared to love with a passion, but then she didn’t actually steal his, per se, they were just - you know, general, all-purpose office donuts that could -
Okay, he sighed to himself. So here was the thing.
Sam knew from bitter experience how something completely innocent could be turned into something it wasn’t. How there were many who considered that appearances were just as – if not more – important than truth and who would no doubt like to have some mud to sling at Josh. The rumors about him and Donna had started up almost immediately after they’d taken office, and despite the fact that it hadn’t taken most people all that long to realize that Donna was in her job for no other reason than because she was damn good at it - the gossip still persisted.
But it was just that – stereotypical office gossip that was bound to make the rounds when a powerful man hired a much younger and extremely attractive – and extremely under-qualified – female assistant. But being clichéd didn’t make the situation right. Just – normal.
Sam shook his head as he stood and walked around the table, remembering for the first time in months the moment last summer when Toby had been the only one of them able to impart the terrible news about Josh - recalled how Donna’s reaction had said far more than any words ever could, the depth of her shock and despair seeming to permeate the small waiting room. That was when he’d known for sure that her feelings for her boss ran far deeper than anyone had previously suspected.
But Josh didn’t have the faintest idea, Sam was pretty sure of that. Besides, he’d had a bit of a crush on Joey Lucas - which Donna had obviously noticed, and was, it seemed, supporting – and given that, and all the other things which were clamouring for his attention, his own creative drought not least among them, Sam had had neither the time nor the inclination to ponder the mysterious ways of Josh and Donna – until that morning.
And now, it looked as though Donna wasn’t alone - that she was as oblivious in her way as Josh was in his; because it was clear to Sam that Josh felt a lot more for her than even he appeared to realize. He’d been quite categorical – he didn’t like Donna dating and there was, surely, only one reason for a guy to feel that way about a woman to whom he wasn’t related.
Although – and here, Sam would be the first to admit he had no clue about the inner workings of the female mind – why on earth, if Donna was in love with Josh, she would be encouraging him to pursue another woman was anybody’s guess and enough to give a sane person a headache.
And so, to summarize.
Donna loved Josh but went on dates anyway. Which Josh had just admitted to doing his best to sabotage.
Just how stupid were these people?
Josh might be a few years Sam’s senior, but there were times when Sam felt as though he was by far the elder. Because seriously - ridiculing a woman’s choice in men and interfering with her dates? Not the best way to endear yourself to her. It was almost as though Josh hadn’t progressed beyond elementary school in the relationship department and was stuck at the stage of making fun of the girl he liked.
Sam left the room to begin the walk back to his office, his mind already racing through his schedule for the rest of the morning - when he found himself suddenly feeling hungry. He stopped, realizing he should have known a breakfast meeting with the President was unlikely to include any actual food and turned, wandering off instead in the direction of the Mess. Was it too early in the morning for Ainsley to have gone in search of a muffin..?
2. Amy
Are you dating your assistant?
Amy got up from her chair and walked to the window. So the rumors weren’t true after all, but it was always best to check these things out. She hadn’t been quite sure whether or not to believe the gossip about Josh and his pretty, blonde assistant – after all, it was fairly old gossip by now and to be honest, it was rather surprising that the idea that a high-ranking government official was probably screwing his secretary was still a cause for chatter. Although in Amy’s experience, there was rarely any smoke without fire, and the fact that the rumors had persisted despite Josh’s supposed interest in Joey Lucas had lent a certain air of credibility to them; or had at least made them seem vaguely plausible. And as for the assistant, well she was the classic stereotype - blonde, leggy, good figure, very pretty, the kind of woman any man would lust after, and who many would have fucked without a second thought.
But not Josh, apparently. No, his denial had been swift and as unequivocal as a guy like Josh was ever likely to get. And if he wasn’t dating his assistant, then it appeared he wasn’t dating anybody. Which meant…
Because, seriously, he was hot. How the hell could she have missed that? Amy was sure he’d not been so damn cute in college – although admittedly, she’d been somewhat preoccupied with Josh’s roommate and hadn’t really noticed Josh very much, other than to think he was a bit mouthy, very opinionated and couldn’t hold his liquor - and that he seemed to be an ‘all work and no play’ type of guy.
Of course, she’d seen him around over the past few years. DC was a company town and they moved in similar circles after all, but so far their paths had crossed only briefly; a nod of acknowledgement here, a “Good to see you,” there, brief smiles from tables across the room at a speech or dinner, Josh surrounded by eager lobbyists or numerous congressional aides vying for his attention – his assistant ever present at his side.
Amy realised she couldn’t just let him leave without some sort of gesture, but she certainly wasn’t about to chase down the stairs after him. He knew where to find her – obviously – and she hadn’t been born yesterday; she knew when a man was interested in her, and Josh was definitely interested. He’d gone out of his way so that he could see her again - and the way he’d smiled at her just now… well, the effect was akin to having been hit by a truck. It was a good thing she’d been sitting down.
She smiled to herself. Guys like him really did need to be hit over the head. Well, perhaps not literally, but… she walked back to her desk, opened a drawer, took out a new balloon and picked up her bottle of water.
3. Jack
I’m new here and I want to do well and I don’t… uh, want to get in between anything.
Well, that had been weird. Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff who must surely have a million and one other things to do had made a point – not once, but twice – of engaging him in a conversation about his assistant, Donna. Although it seemed that weird could well be the norm around here, because seriously, a candle-smuggling-Republican-voting-Democrat? What were the odds?
And her boss had come down here to tell him she wanted to go out with him? Jack leaned back in his chair and wondered for a brief second if he’d walked into the local elementary school instead of the White House this morning. Of if by some strange quirk of fate, he’d taken a wrong turn on the way to work and ended up in some kind of alternate universe. Because in what version of ‘normal’ would a guy who was clearly interested in a woman go out of his way to set her up with someone else? And Lyman was obviously attracted to Donna. Jack hadn’t been kidding when he’d pointed out that Josh had done practically nothing but talk about her for the entirety of their very short acquaintance, and in his mind, there was no other reason a man would be so effusive about a woman.
And she was a very attractive woman. No, more than that – she was gorgeous. And as it appeared that her boss’s feelings weren’t reciprocated, that meant … she was available.
Jack smiled and reached for the phone.
4. Leo
If there’s someplace you’d rather be, everyone would understand.
Leo sighed as he watched Josh break into a jog down the corridor. If he’d had the time, the inclination or, to be honest, the faith, maybe he’d have taken a moment to rail at a God who could let something like this happen to a man who had done nothing but try to do good for most of his adult life. His sister, his father and now… the woman he loved. When would it end?
And what was more - Josh never complained. God knew, he had every right to - but he didn’t. He’d accepted the hand life had dealt him and turned his energies in another direction; which Leo knew, better than anyone, took incredible strength and determination. Even now, with Donna lying thousands of miles away, injured, Leo knew Josh would never have asked for permission to leave so that he could be with her. He’d have seen it as selfish, as a desertion of duty although quite frankly, if killing everyone who’d been involved with the bombing was Josh’s idea of a good move, then they were probably better off without him anyway.
And so Leo had packed him off to Germany. For a brief moment, he’d expected Josh to offer another half-hearted protest, at which point it would have been impossible for Leo to have repeated his offer – but Josh had taken him at his word and if Leo knew him at all, had stopped only to grab his passport and was now on his way to the airport.
Josh was finally waking up to the fact that he had something in his life that was more important to him than his job - and it was about damn time. He might not realize it yet, but he’d made his choice, and Leo was proud of him for it – proud and relieved. Proud because Josh had elected to put something other than work first; and relieved because it meant (he hoped) that the younger man wouldn’t make the same mistakes Leo himself had made in his own personal life.
Not that he expended a great deal of time and energy thinking about the private lives of his staff, but Leo had known for some time that Josh’s feelings for Donna were more than those of simple friendship; the kid hadn’t exactly been subtle that Christmas a couple of years back when he’d tried to insist that he was glad Donna was spending the holidays with her boyfriend. Come to think of it, Josh hadn’t exactly been subtle at all when it came to Donna. Oh, he sure as hell hadn’t let her see anything, but the way he looked at her, the way he talked about her, the affection in his voice, in his eyes… Leo had been deeply in love once and he knew it when he saw it. And he was almost certain that Donna felt the same – she was as inept at hiding her feelings as Josh was – well, from everyone but Josh, obviously; and why on earth the pair of them seemed hell-bent on denying it was something he had neither the time nor the inclination to even attempt to work out. Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t have looked good for Josh to have dated his subordinate – there were rules about that sort of thing for a reason – but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t have handled. Donna was very capable, there were other opportunities open to her – and in any case, anyone with eyes and half a brain would have been able to see their relationship for what it was.
A soft cough coming from behind him alerted Leo to Charlie’s presence and he turned quickly.
“Leo?” The younger man was watching him expectantly. “They’re waiting for you.”
Leo pursed his lips, nodded – “Okay,” and walked purposefully towards the Oval Office.
5. Will
I just want to make sure I'm not starting a turf war. I'd hate to find the Deputy Chief of Staff at my door with a switchblade.
He hadn’t been kidding. Well, okay, maybe about the turf war and the switchblade, but making an enemy of Josh Lyman wasn’t something anyone in this town ever did lightly.
Because although she’d said otherwise, Will couldn’t help feeling that he was poaching Donna. Of course, had it been Bonnie or Ginger or any one of the other assistants in the West Wing he wouldn’t be having this problem; but this was Donna Moss. Donna Moss who had been Josh’s right hand for years. Donna Moss who, Will was pretty sure, was a lot more to Josh than just his assistant. Because no question, Toby Ziegler would have bundled five of them into a cab and driven through the snow to go throw snowballs at Ginger’s window if she’d not turned up at the Inaugural Ball last January.
Will knew there was nothing going on between Josh and Donna. But from what he’d seen that night, and on other occasions – like when Josh had wanted to carpet-bomb the middle east when Donna had been injured - there was no question in Will’s mind that Josh would like there to be. Which was understandable – Donna was smart, compassionate, funny – as well as being very beautiful and surely any man with a pulse and eyes in his head would be attracted to her… yet Josh had never overstepped the mark. Which, Will thought, showed remarkable restraint. No wonder Josh was so cranky half the time.
And Donna was obviously very capable. She’d learned a lot in her years at the White House and Will hadn’t been lying when he’d said she’d have her own areas of responsibility on the campaign. And the fact that she knew Josh pretty much inside out could prove to be an added bonus if Josh changed his mind about Hoynes or if the whispers Will had begun to hear about the possibility of another candidate emerging from left-field turned out to be true. Will knew he was no Josh Lyman and having ‘inside information’ on the likely stratagems of an opponent would give him a useful edge.
So – turf war or no turf war, Donna was on the team.
Although he’d prefer the latter option.
6. Lou
I don't know what the problem is between you two, but she's great on television and I don't care if she worked for Francisco Franco in the primaries, right now it's all hands on deck. So work it out.
What the hell did it matter that Donna Moss had been Josh’s assistant at the White House? Lou made it her business to know all there was to know about the people she hired, so she was well aware that Donna had worked for Bob Russell and for Josh before that. And although Lou wasn’t really one to have given credence to it – or to care about it all that much – if the gossip that had been prevalent at one time was to be believed, Donna had done a damn sight more than just work for Josh.
And so what if she had? All Lou cared about was that Donna was personable, smart and good at her job. The fact that she might also turn out to be a bit of a thorn in Josh Lyman’s side – or even, perhaps, his Achilles heel – was just an added bonus as far as she was concerned.
That said though, while she saw it as part of her mission in life – well, on this campaign anyway – to get in Josh’s face and point out his shortcomings, he’d nonetheless managed to pull off one hell of a political coup; and she couldn’t deny – well, other than to Josh and to anyone else who might ask - that she had a sneaking respect for him. In fact there were times she almost liked him.
Although she’d refute that as well.
At first, Lou had thought it strange that Josh didn’t talk much about his time at the White House. Strange that someone with his reputation for ego wasn’t bragging about past victories or winning strategies at every available opportunity; and Lou had gradually come to realize that perhaps there was something he’d left behind that he didn’t want to talk about or remember, because she’d definitely gotten the impression on more than one occasion that there was something … for want of a better word, haunting him.
And it had begun to dawn on her recently that perhaps it wasn’t a something, but a someone.
Because on the few occasions Josh had referred to something that had happened during his tenure as Bartlet’s Deputy Chief of Staff, he’d never mentioned Donna. Not once. There had been times when he’d been in the middle of an explanation and he’d suddenly reined himself in, his face clouding over for a split second before he changed the subject and carried on as if he hadn’t been saying something else immediately before.
And then, this afternoon, the first thing Josh had said to her when she’d gotten back wasn’t to ask how her meeting with Bruno had gone, whether she’d managed to secure the debates they wanted; no – the first words out of his mouth had been about Donna. To complain about the fact that she’d hired his former assistant without consulting him and to try to throw his weight around a bit - but Lou was having none of it. Whatever pangs of unrequited love or sexual frustration Josh Lyman was suffering were none of her concern and right now, he’d have to suck it up, because Donna was good, and they needed people like her on the campaign. Nevertheless, there was obviously… something between them, and her instinct told her that it ran pretty deep – but whatever it was, it would have to keep. They would have to find a way to work together without killing each other or screwing each other senseless, and as long as Lou didn’t have to decide which was the preferable alternative, she’d be okay with whatever they worked out.
But she was determined not to let them out of that room until they had reached some sort of détente. Although maybe, given that last thing, leaving them alone in a bedroom hadn’t been such a great idea.
Crap.
She just hoped she wasn’t going to go back in there and find them in a sweaty heap on the bed, because the last thing she needed right now was another media frenzy about the sexual prowess of high-ranking members of the campaign. ‘Hurricane Santos’ had been bad enough – if she heard so much as a whisper about ‘Typhoon Lyman’, somebody would be in for the ass-kicking of their life. And now, dammit, she was going to be stuck with that in her head for the rest of the day because she doubted there was enough industrial strength cleaner in the world to expunge that image from her mind.
Epilogue
“Donna Moss.”
“Hey. How long does it take you to pack a suitcase?”
“Is that a trick question?”
“What?”
“You know, ‘How many Republicans does it take to change a lightbulb?’, that sort of thing?”
“What? No. It’s – I just meant, how long would it take you to pack a bag? For a vacation. Or something.”
“A vacation or something? Josh – what’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on. Well, not exactly.”
“Joshua.”
“It’s – I just thought… it’s April, and it’s been ten years and I didn’t think flowers would suitably mark such an auspicious occasion.”
“What are you – ? April.”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
“That’s it? Just ‘oh’?”
“Well, ‘oh’, as in –‘oh, you’re never going to let me forget that, are you?’ and also as in, ‘oh, so that’s what you’ve been up to’.”
“What do you mean, that’s what I’ve been up to?”
“Are you going to repeat everything I say? Because it’s not dignified.”
“I’m not - ”
“Josh, you’re not that stealthy.”
“I’m the epitome of stealth; in fact - ”
“You’re really not.”
“Do you want to go to Italy or not?”
“We’re not going to Italy.”
“And how do you figure that?”
“Remember the not stealthy thing?”
“Yes.”
“That.”
“Because?”
“If you really had been stealthy, you wouldn’t have left all those travel brochures lying around.”
“I didn’t leave – you were snooping.”
“Why on earth would I -?”
“Don’t change the subject – you were snooping.”
“I was doing no such thing.”
“I didn’t leave any brochures lying around.”
“You did.”
“They were under the bed!”
“And very inventive that was, too. I mean, most men keep their stash of porn magazines under the bed, but you keep travel brochures.”
“Nice try. And I’m not ‘most men’ – but you were still snooping.”
“I was - ”
“Yes?”
“Cleaning.”
“Cleaning?”
“Yes.”
“Under the bed.”
“Yes.”
“Since when do you clean under the bed?”
“Since it gets dusty and… fluffy under there, and - ”
“Okay, that’s thirty seconds of my life I’ll never get back, so can we just, you know, move on from under the bed, you admit you were snooping and – wait, what makes you think we’re not going to Italy?”
“Remember the not - ?”
“Yeah, yeah…”
“And I found brochures for Caribbean cruises and - ”
“Well, there will be water and boats involved, but you’re way off base.”
“Ships.”
“Sorry?”
“They’re not boats, they’re ships.”
“If you say so. But I think they call them Gondolas, actually.”
“What?”
“You’ve been saying you wanted to go to Venice.”
“But - ”
“So your Italian had better be as good as you’ve been telling me it is.”
“My God, Josh… we’re really going to Venice?”
“Yep.”
“You know you sound really smug right now.”
“I do. But I think I deserve it, don’t you?”
“Si, caro, ma non sto andando ammettere che a voi in qualsiasi lingua voi capite.”
“Now you’re just showing off.”
“Ed amo quando siete compiaciuto.”
“Donna…”
“Ma non sto andando ammettere che neanche.”
“Oh, God. Donna…”
“…non avete idea quanto voglio svestire te proprio adesso …”
“I have no idea what you’re saying…”
“… per le cose illecite voglio fare al vostro corpo.”
“… and right now, I don’t care – we’re outta here.”
“Josh! It’s the middle of the afternoon.”
“So? It’s a slow day.”
“Maybe, but if we leave now, everyone’ll think you’re taking me home to have your wicked way with me!”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly planning on taking out an ad in the Post.”
“Josh, you won’t need to – you’re really not cryptic.”
“And are you complaining?”
“Hell, no.”
“See you in twenty?”
“Make it fifteen.”
End.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Yeah. I looked it up. Hahaha! That was great.
Love! All the different opinions and everything! Especially Amy. I have a secret love affair with Josh/Amy. But not as much as J/D. But. ya know.
no subject
Glad you enjoyed it. I took two more prompts, so there is more on the way!
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
The ending was perfect. (Though now I'm going to have to go to Babblefish to read what Donna actually said.
Well done, Caz. And you even managed to post from your vacation. What a great gift for us all.
no subject
But thanks for reading - I'm glad you enjoyed it.
no subject
This was so nice! I liked the gentle wave of emotion and tone. I agree with gatz, Leo's part was wonderful. It's so sad that we all lost the chance to really see his reaction.
no subject
Yeah, it is. Although someone was talking to me about writing such a fic... I'll let it fester for a while.
But thanks for reading - I'm glad you enjoyed it (and liked the photo!)
no subject
I haven't actually read this yet. But it's good to know it'll be there tomorrow/in 15 minutes when the edge has worn off and I realize I don't have the back of anyone's head to stare at.
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Glad you enjoyed it.
no subject
I'm imagining the Italian translation *g*. Many thanks for this.
no subject
I'm sure you've gotten the gist of the Italian :-)
I took two more prompts - so there's more to come, and I'm glad you liked this one.
no subject
no subject
I'm glad you liked it - I took two more prompts so there is more to come!
no subject
no subject
Glad you liked it - thanks for reading.
no subject
All of them were great. I can't pick which section I liked best.
no subject
no subject
(Anonymous) 2008-05-21 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)"colorful" phrases I know so I'm completely clueless here, and I have to go back to work.
no subject
Thanks for reading!
no subject
Favorite description: "It was almost as though Josh hadn’t progressed beyond elementary school in the relationship department and was stuck at the stage of making fun of the girl he liked."
This is one of the best sentences I've ever read, describing Josh's utter ineptness when it came to his affection for Donna.
Well done! Can't wait for the next two!
no subject
My next one is almost finished, but I think I probably won't be able to get it done properly until I'm home. But it's half term next week, so hopefully, I'll be able to get to it then.
no subject
no subject
no subject
And my half-remembered high school Latin didn't help me translate Italian other than to register a distinctly naughty vibe.
no subject
no subject
I'm moving next week and, assuming Sky ever pick up the phone and let me place an order, will return when I'm all set up with broadband at my new place and read PROPERLY then.
*yawn*
Enjoy your remaining time in NYC!
no subject
ok, I got this! and why, might you ask did that line, in partcular, just leap out at me?
Yeah...
Lovely and funny and right-on as ever, caz. Cheering me up, it is.
no subject
Um... because we'd all like to do the same thing, given half a chance?? *g*
Glad you liked it! I'll try to get the next one up in a few days.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Feel free to use the banner but please make sure to upload it to your own server. Credit isn’t required but it was made by
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
I thought it was great that you captured Will. Don't get me wrong, I loved his character to start, but I found him increasingly hard to pin down as the series progressed, which is why I don't think I would try to write him. But you capture it... he's insightful, but with that edge of... I don't know, blandness and inability to see the loyalty and the passion that these other people have.
Okay, I'll stop rambling now. Welcome home!
no subject
I just loved that quote about the switch-blade and wanted to include it; and of course it's Will who tells Donna she's not cryptic in The Cold, he was there for the snowballs, Josh's "we need to kill them" etc., so I thought he would fit in here nicely.
I'm completely stunned by your kind words about the characterisation. You know by now it's a real thing of mine, but I'm still amazed when I'm told i've gotten it right! :-)
It's nice to be back home - but I miss the huge bagels, the frappuccinos and my fellow fangirls. Oh, and Brad of course!
I still have two prompts to finish, so I'd better get to it! :-)
no subject
And very impressed by your having posted this whilst on holiday!
no subject
I took two more prompts - the second fic should be posted tomorrow or the day after... then I'll think about the last one!
Glad you enjoyed this.
no subject
no subject
I just posted the second (http://caz963.livejournal.com/153641.html) of my
Thanks for reading this one.
no subject
no subject
no subject
well, I already loved you for your fics long before this but now I love you more. This was just awesome, every word of it. I love all the canon moments and especially love Sam's and Leo's PoV (oh Leo!!! His reaction to J/D is the one I wanted to see the most, his and President Bartlet's...) so thank you for writing this that helped fill in the gap. I did love how Leo understood and the way he told Josh that if he needed to be somewhere else, everyone would understand... *sniffs*
Love, love, love it and you did so well in switching being PoV's too so kudos on that! Jack, Amy, Lou, they were all spot-on. And of course, the epilogue is awesome. *heads to babelfish*)
no subject
Glad you liked it - it's not the sort of thing I've done before, but I've always been a sucker for "other people watch J/D" fics, so I was pleased to finally get a chance to write one!