A/N: I started this story forever ago and I've finally decided to post it and finish it. It's going to be a series that basically fills in some things for Josh and Donna during the campaign that I think may help them rebuild their friendship (or whatever you call they're not romantic but not platonic relationship). Enjoy!

angellwings

Winners and Losers

As the celebration on the stage continued, Donna found she wasn't actually that upset. She knew Santos was a strong candidate. She'd never dismissed the possibility of him obtaining the nomination. Well, maybe not never. But after he and Josh got their act together in New Hampshire she knew they'd be a viable threat. The only thing she doubted was the Congressman's commitment. After tonight, though, she was convinced.

Matt Santos was the guy.

It would have been more advantageous for him to concede tonight. He would have had President Bartlet, Leo McGarry, and the whole of the Democratic Party on his side in 4 to 8 years. He would have the nomination after Russell was through. But instead he risks alienating himself and losing the nomination because he honestly believed he was the best man for the job. That spoke to her. Witnessing his leadership on the Stem Cell vote was a start but she'd never objected to the Santos Campaign's politics anyway. Josh wouldn't have gone all out for Santos if his policies weren't good for the party. She knew that from the very beginning.

The door opened and she turned to see who came in. The Vice President had left long ago so there's no way it would be him. He'd left without so much as a thank you for the hard work.

The receding hairline caught her attention before anything else and her breath caught in her throat. Great, she thought, here comes Josh to gloat. She could just hear his 'keg of glory' speech now. Her eyes never left him as he walked toward her and Will. He set two beers down on the table in front of her. He opened one and handed it to Will and then another handed it to her before he sat down with the third one himself.

She watched him and waited for the gloating. But instead he turned toward her and smiled softly.

"You did good, Donna," He said as he clinked his beer against hers. "Too good, honestly."

She grinned at him and chuckled dryly. "Your guy was better. It doesn't seem to matter how good I was or wasn't." She paused and wondered what to say next. She wasn't used to this from Josh. Not lately, anyway. "You know, I was in the VP's office the night Congressman Santos led the plan for the Stem Cell vote."

Josh turned to her in surprise. "You were?"

"Fell asleep doing media research and the Congressman basically sat on top of me."

Josh chuckled. "He never told me that."

"Anyway, I stayed the whole night. Well, most of the night. He debated the issue with every congressman and woman in the room. He never dismissed anyone. He listened and answered questions." She smiled proudly at Josh. "You picked the real deal, Josh. You saw it when no one else did. You'll do great in the general."

"Thank you," He said sincerely as he met her eyes.

"Well," Will said as he stood up and looked between the two of them. "Thanks for the beer, Josh. But I think I better go find the Vice President and beg him to let me keep my job. Somebody shoot me."

"Tell me where and I'll oblige," Josh said with a smirk.

"Let me think about it and I'll get back to you," Will said as he left the room.

Donna blinked at the label on her beer. Oh God, she didn't have a job. There was no job for her to go to tomorrow. She supposed the VP would try to find something for her but she was hired specifically for the campaign and the campaign…the campaign was over.

Josh must have noticed her demeanor had changed because he cleared his throat and nudged her arm. "What happened to you complimenting me on my guy? I liked that. My ego was flattered."

His ego was flattered? Did he not get what just happened here? Will just not so gently reminded her that she may not have a job tomorrow and he was wanting her to flatter his ego?

"Wow, really?" She asked him.

"What?" He asked cluelessly.

"Did you not—were you not in the room just now?"

"I believe I'm sitting right here."

"So that conversation about Will not having a job…you didn't maybe also correlate that to my situation?" She asked him archly.

He looked genuinely apologetic. "Donna, I didn't—"

"We were having a nice moment, I thought," She said with a sigh.

"We were! We still could be if you hadn't done an about face on me. What just happened here?" He asked in confusion.

"After a conversation about Will, my boss by the way, possibly not having a job you felt it was appropriate to ask me to flatter you, did you?" Donna asked flippantly. "You didn't think that, maybe, my boss not having a job meant I probably won't have a job?"

"Who's fault is that?" Josh asked with a glare. "You left me, remember? If you'd stayed maybe you'd have a position with the Santos campaign and you wouldn't have risked unemployment."

"No, just general discontent with my career and a suffocating feeling of being stuck in the muck which is so much better than unemployment," Donna said sarcastically.

"You could have just told me that you weren't—"

"I tried, Josh! Or do you not remember cancelling and postponing on me so many times I lost count? I kept telling you we needed to talk but you never seemed to hear me and then when I finally quit…you didn't even believe me. Did you?" She asked as she stood up and stared down at him angrily. He stuttered for a moment before Donna repeated herself. "Did you?"

"No!" He yelled as he stood up with her. "No, I didn't! Because you're Donna and I'm Josh and we're a team. We always have been! Even if you left me once for an idiot wannabe doctor."

"You just had to bring that up, didn't you? You couldn't resist," Donna said through a tense jaw. "I couldn't be 'Donna, Josh's Assistant' forever. You had to know that somewhere in the back of your mind."

"So you went and slept with the enemy," He spat at her vindictively. "Typical."

"What?" She asked in a quiet voice. He closed his eyes and winced. She looked like he'd just slapped her across the face. To be honest, he might as well have. He just crossed a major line. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Josh?"

"Shit, Donna, I'm sorry," He said urgently. "I didn't—I shouldn't have—"

"Forget it. It's nice to know how you really feel. I wish I'd have known it years ago. I would've been able to leave you so much sooner if I did," She sneered as she swallowed thickly.

He thought he heard a sniffle too but before he could call her back or respond she was out the door. He kicked the chair she'd left behind and it crashed into the table next to it. The people on the other end of the room jumped and turned to look at him curiously. "How ya doin?" He asked them with a huff. He grabbed his jacket and his beer and bolted after her. What the hell was wrong with him? Where was his brain to mouth filter when he needed it?

He found her waiting for a car outside the venue and immediately blocked her view of the incoming taxis.

"I think we're done, Josh," Donna said with a glare.

"No, we're not. We're not done," He told her. "I'm a jackass, okay? I crossed the line back there and I'm sorry. But I don't understand what happened. We were having a pretty nice conversation until you flipped a switch and turned all gloomy and depressing on me. I actually remembered not to gloat. Did you notice that?" He said as he grinned hesitantly at her.

She rewarded him with a small smile. "Yes, you managed not to ask for the finest bagels in all the land. I noticed."

"And muffins. Don't forget the muffins."

"I would never forget the muffins," Donna said with a chuckle. "Josh, do you really think I took a job with the Russell campaign to hurt you? Do you think so little of me that I would—"

"No," He answered immediately. "I don't. I don't, Donna."

"Good, because I wouldn't. I wouldn't."

"I know," He assured her. "And don't worry about a job. You're brilliant, Donna. You'll have a job before the week is over. I'd bet on it."

She smirked at him. "Yeah? How much?"

"The finest muffins and bagels in all the land," he said with a grin.

She chuckled and stuck out her hand to shake. "Deal."

He shook her hand as the car pulled up behind him.

"I have to go," She told him. "You should go back inside. Celebrate with your staff. You deserve it."

"Okay, you sure you're okay?" He asked worriedly as he opened the car door for her.

"No, but I will be," She told him as she stepped inside the taxi. "Don't worry about me. Unlike some people, I always have a plan."

He chuckled and smirked at her. "I plan things."

"No, you don't. Not unless you need votes for something."

"That might be true," he admitted.

She chuckled. "The first step is admitting you have a problem, Joshua."

"Good night, Donnatella," He said as he closed the door. She rolled down her window and smiled sadly at him.

"Good night, Josh," she said before she gave the address to the driver and pulled away from the curb. Away from him. He only wished he knew for how long.