"He's gonna run! Yes! A strategy - we need to map out a campaign and re-election strategy!" Josh was so excited, he was practically bouncing around the room.

"Maybe we should discuss a few things before getting into strategy," Toby warned, thinking ahead to the threat of congressional hearings for impeachment.

"Yeah, like maybe we should discuss you and Donna," Sam broke in bitterly. It was bad enough that they had to deal with the President lying; He wasn't looking forward to dealing with a sex scandal too.

"What?" Josh asked in disbelief, at the same time that Toby gave him a questioning look. "What are you talking about, Sam?"

"You and Donna. Did you really think you could hide it? If your going to be making clandestine plans in the bullpen late at night, maybe you should make sure everyone else is gone first. Something's definitely going on -- maybe we should discuss that first."

Toby broke in, "This isn't the time or the place"

"Well, when is? Tell me that, Toby! Should we just wait for them to explode and then we have another scandal on our hands?" Sam kept getting louder and the belligerence of his tone was evident. "They're a ticking time bomb, and we're all going to get blown up when it happens!"

"Sam " Toby's voice was soft yet warning.

"No, Toby! I mean it! Are we just supposed to wait until Josh screws this up? Until the press finds out and we have a sex scandal of epic proportions in addition to the president lying?!"

"SAM!"

The tone in Toby's voice and the look on Josh's face must have finally gotten through to Sam, because his face blanched and he stared. "Oh, my God. Josh I"

And because what he had said was so true, Josh just got up and walked out of the room. Sam went to follow, but CJ interrupted him. "Sam - no! Let me go talk to him. I think he needs some time right now, and maybe you need a little distance." CJ gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile and left in search of Josh.

**********

Josh couldn't take it any more. They were right; his relationship with Donna was going to explode and cause another scandal for this administration. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do to prevent it, except pretend that there was nothing there, and he wasn't sure he could do that. Donna meant too much to him, was too important in his life, to pretend that he didn't have feelings for her. And anyway, it was too late for that now.

Feeling tense and on edge, he decided it was best to practice the relaxation technique that Stanley had taught him several months ago. It probably wouldn't help calm the turmoil of his thoughts, but it just might ease some of the tension in his back and shoulders. He found a small, unused office a little further down the hall and flattened his back against the far wall.

CJ found him standing that way a few minutes later. "Josh..."

Opening his eyes, he looked up at CJ with a mixture of weariness and resignation. "He was right, CJ. It is a time bomb. The problem is, it's already exploded and it's gonna get ugly when the press finds out."

"Josh, are you saying..."

"I'm saying that Sam is right! There's this THING between Donna and me. I'm saying there's gonna be problems. I'm saying that I'm likely to screw this up!" Josh's voice got louder as he continued.

Gently, so as not to make him more upset, CJ ventured, "So you're saying you have feelings for Donna?"

"Yeah, CJ, but it's a little more than just having feelings for one another. We didn't want this to be thing. Both of us have tried really hard to NOT make it into a thing. But it hasn't gone away. In fact, it just keeps getting bigger." His head sagged as he admitted that last part and he sneaked a glance at CJ. Amazingly, she was smiling.

"You two finally got a clue!" There was wonder in her voice. "We always wondered. Am I right in assuming that this is about more than just feelings now?"

"We've been fighting this for a while, CJ. Especially since last May and afterwards. But with all that's happened with the president and Mrs. Landingham and everything I can't deny it. If I'm asked? I can't deny that I have a relationship with her." He darted another glance her way, trying to gauge her reaction.

"I'm not mad at you, Josh. You can stop looking at me like I'm about to beat you about the head with a folder or something. I'm not. Well, maybe later. You should have told us, Josh! We have a plan."

"What?" For the second time that night, Josh was totally baffled.

"Toby and I. We came up with a plan. It won't be easy, but it won't be a complete disaster either."

"When did this happen?" He couldn't believe that his friends had discussed this before, that he and Donna had been so obvious.

"After the thing - in the hospital - Donna was so upset. And we realized we needed to have a plan if anything happened between you. So we came up with one." CJ smiled in triumph at having left Josh speechless. "It basically focuses on admitting that there's an existing relationship, but stating that it in no way effects your ability to work together. Everyone in D.C. already knows, or suspects, that you and Donna are involved. We simply play on that. Admit that it developed sometime after your recovery. We get some well-liked political players, both Democrat and Republican, to back it up. We've already secured Matt Skinner's and Ainsley Hayes' help. Point out that it has had no effects on your work or the administration. Admittedly, it may be bad for a few days, but after the initial shock of confirmation has worn off, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Claudia Jean, you are an angel!" Josh swooped her up into a huge hug and gave her a kiss.

"Hey! Not so fast! I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. And it's not exactly at the best time, but I think it will work. This is one problem that should be relatively easy to fix."

"Seriously, CJ. Thank you. This means a lot to me. To us," Josh admitted to her with unexpected humility.

"Well, the two of you mean a lot to us too, mi amor. Now let's see how things are going with Sam and Toby," she suggested.

**********

"Toby, I can't believe I just said that to him."

"He'll get over it."

"Yeah, but will we? I meant it. We don't need this right now."

Toby sighed in frustration as he tried to deal with his disillusioned deputy. "Sam, did you really think that this would never happen? That Josh and Donna would never realize how they felt? Anyone with eyes could see that it was going to happen eventually. It just happened sooner then we thought and at a bad time."

"Yes, but why now? Now, when we're on the brink of the biggest political scandal"

"It's not the *biggest* political scandal. There were a lot more of those in history than we can claim. Watergate, alone, could be classified as a huge scandal. Try to keep this in perspective; it could be worse."

Sam's exasperation at being brushed aside erupted. "You know what I mean! Why is he doing this NOW? Why not AFTER re-election? Hell, why not after our term is up?" He couldn't help contain the bitterness that welled up at that thought. Most likely, they would be reduced to a one-term presidency and would leave the White House in shame. It was something he had tried not to confront since learning of the President's health, but it was something he could no longer ignore.

"Because love is not that way, Sam. At the risk of sounding like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, or another one of those damn love poets, love doesn't let us choose who or when, it just happens. Look, we knew that Josh and Donna were going to be an issue long before the story about the MS broke. Did you think we hadn't thought of something? That we didn't have a plan of some sort in place?"

"*We*, Toby? Don't you mean *you*?" Yet again, Sam was left out of the loop while everyone else made the decisions.

"It wasn't that way. CJ and I had been out one night for drinks and just started bouncing around ideas. And we came up with a solution and ran it past Leo, to get his approval. It wasn't meant to leave you out of the loop. We honestly didn't know if, or when, we would need it."

Trying to get Sam to listen to reason, Toby changed tactics. "Listen, do you remember when the story broke about you and that prostitute?"

"Laurie! She has a name and it's Laurie. And she was a call girl, not a prostitute. And she was only doing that to put herself through law school." Sam gritted his teeth at the way his friends and co-workers continued to classify Laurie as a cheap hooker. In the time he had known her, he had come to realize that she was a very intelligent and caring woman, who was simply using an unconventional means to support herself. He didn't support her profession, but he did support her reasons.

"Whatever." Toby was rubbing his fingers along his scalp, a sure sign that he was starting to get agitated. "Do you remember when the photograph of you and her came out? You chose to stand up and say that she was your friend, and that it shouldn't matter about her personal life. It's the same with Josh and Donna. They have something, something that none of the rest of us has, and they deserve to have it without being in the public eye. We all stood up for you then. It's time we stood up for Josh and Donna now."

***********

CJ and Josh had just re-joined Toby and Sam in the conference room to discuss strategy, when Donna peeked her head in and tried to get Josh's attention. He was going to be needed by Leo shortly, and Donna had been recruited by Margaret to track him down.

"Donnatella! Come on in here." An exuberant Josh grabbed her hand and started to tug her into the room. Donna realized that the others in the room were all giving her peculiar looks.

"What's going on?" she asked hesitantly, as Josh pulled her into an unexpected hug. They had always been close with one another, and particularly tactile, but she wasn't sure this was something they should be doing now, especially since they had become personally involved. She wasn't sure what Josh was trying to prove or what he was doing, and it made her nervous that he was being so affectionate in front of the other senior staff. She knew that this relationship they had started was going to be hard, even without the scrutiny of others. If they messed up just once, they could both be out of jobs.

"Donna, we've figured it out!"

CJ raised an eyebrow at him. "*We*, Josh? I think the majority of that praise belongs to Tobus and myself, don't you?" She gave Donna a happy smile and added, "And I still say that it's about time!"

"Josh?" He had stopped hugging her, but he continued to keep his arm around her waist, and it was making her nervous. Part of her wanted to believe that somehow Josh had told their friends about the relationship and it was OK, but the other part was too worried about the repercussions.

"Since Idiot Boy here is too damn happy for his own good, I'll explain. We all know the two of you have this special bond, and Josh has admitted that you guys are `together' now. Well, I can officially tell you it will not be a problem. Toby and I came up with a battle plan, and we're gonna start tomorrow." CJ ended the sentence with a flourish and came over to give Donna a hug. In a false whisper, she told Donna, "If he EVER hurts you, I'll make him pay."

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Josh." Toby came over to give her is own, somewhat awkward, hug. "And when Claudia Jean is done with him, then he'll have to deal with me."

"Yeah, cause the two of you are so good at working together," came Sam's caustic reply from across the room. Donna looked over and could tell that he was unhappy, but was too distracted by the congratulations to spend any time dwelling on it.

"But, I still don't understand. What's going on? How ?" Obviously, they had found out about her relationship with Josh, but she wasn't quite sure how or why they were so happy about it. She had always assumed that it would be horrible when people started finding out. She was afraid to hope that their relationship might not be a problem.

Josh came to her rescue by explaining their plan. "It's OK, Donna. It isn't gonna be a problem. We don't have to hide anymore."

But she had been hiding her feelings, first from Josh and then from others, for so long that she was afraid to believe. "Are you sure?"

There was still a small wrinkle of worry on her forehead and Josh found it adorable. He leaned over to kiss it. "Yes, I'm sure. No more hiding. And that starts now." Again, he reached over to give her a big hug. This was quickly followed by another kiss. Before the kiss could get very far though, he was interrupted by a chorus of coughs and groans from the others. He pulled away sheepishly and noticed that Donna's alabaster skin had adopted a pink flush. He mentally noted to follow up on that later, in the privacy of his own bedroom. They didn't have to hide anymore, and he planned on taking advantage of that. His thoughts were interrupted by a particularly pointed cough from Toby.

"As lovely as this interlude of the JoshNDonna show has been, is it possible for us to get back to work? We have a campaign and media strategy to discuss. Not to mention a probable congressional hearing!"

"Yes! Let's get to work"

***********

Later that night, as Josh walked with Donna out to the parking garage, he thought about the events of the week. The next year wouldn't be easy. There would be rough battles to win and scandals to avert, but he had his life, his friends and the woman he loved. And he realized that was all he needed.

---

Read the fluffy sequel After Hours. (Warning: This sequel is NC-17. Please read responsibly!)
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