Josh paused in the outer doorway of his office, reading a briefing memo with a scowl. It had been one hell of a day. Well, really, one hell of a couple of months. He was running on fumes and he was out of patience. Everyone knew that if you crossed his path you were at risk of having your head taken off- through no fault of your own.

"I'll be in the situation room, Alan," he muttered to his latest assistant. "What do I have this afternoon besides the 4:00 meeting with Congressman Furlong?"

"Actually, sir, that's been cancelled. Your afternoon has been cleared for a previously unscheduled meeting."

"What? WHY?" Josh was furious.

Alan flinched a bit as his boss' raised voice. "The Vice President's office, sir. I'm not sure of your appointments name- they just said Leo McGarry wanted you to meet with an old friend from home."

Josh stopped at the use of the phrase. "An old friend from home?" he clarified.

"Yes, sir."

"Leo McGarry set it up. You're sure."

"Yes, sir." Alan couldn't understand why his boss was so bent out of shape about this, but rarely did he know what to expect from the Chief of Staff.

Josh nodded, still somewhat startled by his assistant's words. "Alright." Even he wasn't one to argue with the use of that phrase. "I should be back in twenty minutes."

oOoOoOoOo

Three hours later Josh returned from the situation room, fuming. He'd accompanied a very angry President Santos into the Oval where he'd been advised that it was going to be a long night.

"I'll be here, sir," he told him before turning and strolling into his own office through the side door. He was still looking over a classified folder, all thoughts of his mysterious meeting gone by the wayside with the intel he'd been presented in the past hours. "ALAN!" he screamed. "Get me the-" he stopped dead in his tracks, losing his train of thought, and gaped at her.

Donna stood from where she'd been seated in the corner of his office for the past two hours. "Hi, Josh," she told him meekly. She'd rehearsed what to say to him thousands of times, but at this moment, with him actually just a few feet in front of her, she'd lost all the words.

"Yes, Mr. Lyman?" Alan peeked his head in from when Josh had called his name..

"Get out, Alan,' Josh stated, never taking his eyes off of Donna.

Josh paced around his office a little bit before tossing his paperwork down on his desk and standing behind it, resting his arms in a wide V and leaning on his desk. He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. He desperately wanted to pull her close and kiss the air out of her lungs but he knew it would come off as somewhat forward and condescending. Not to mention he'd been going out of his mind without her for two years and he was still trying to process the fact that she'd left him but was standing in front of him. He opened his eyes and looked at her for a moment. "Donna?" The simple greeting asked so many questions.

"Hi," she repeated again from where she stood. "I'm sorry to catch you in the middle of things…" she looked uneasily around the room, unsure of how to proceed.

He waived her off with a swift movement of his hand, trying to indicate with an air of informality that it wasn't a bad time. She could tell, however, that wasn't the case.

"I-I need to talk to you, Josh. And I wanted to see you in person." It was no time to mince words. She took a step closer to him, not wanting to overwhelm him but certainly knowing him well enough to know this wasn't going to be easy.

"Are you okay?"

"I am," she answered calmly. "How are you?"

He waived her off. "I'm fine." He wasn't. "But that's not what I meant. You need to tell me something? You're not sick, right?" He was looking her up and down, assuring himself that she looked okay. Great actually. Really great.

But his mind went from 0- Disaster in 3 seconds and she knew it. Picking up right where they left off in that regard, she thought. "No, Josh, its not that. I'm perfectly healthy and I'm not in any kind of trouble." She sat back down on the couch, crossing her long legs and waiting for him to calm down enough to come over and talk to her. "I like what you've done with the place," she smiled, taking in the room again, which was very similar to the way it looked when Leo had used it as his office, only with Josh's mayhem strewn around. She rattled on for a few moments, trying to ease into the more dense areas of discussion slowly.

He must have begun to feel more at ease because at some point he moved over towards her and sat down on the couch in the corner. He cleared his throat, finding his nerve. "Donna, Why are you really here? Why now?" he reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, needed to touch her somehow to make sure she was real.

"Do you think we could go somewhere to talk? Maybe a- I don't know where, really, somewhere a little less… official?"

He shook his head. "I can't leave tonight. There's something going on, I've got to be back in the sit room before the evening is over. We've always been able to talk in my office, Donna. That much hasn't changed. The doors are closed."

She bit her lip. Might as well jump right into it- she knew their time was probably limited and she didn't want to put this off. It could be her only choice for a while.

"Josh, I, for many, many reasons, hate how we left things. The night we- the night we were in New Orleans…"

"Donna, I'm so sorry. I never meant for it to be like that. I think I need to explain myself." He began to reach for her, the words tumbling out of him in an unusual way.

She held up her hand. "You don't have to do that, Josh. You were honest with me after it happened and you can't change the way you feel. It was a one night stand, it happens. It was… convenience."

"Stop. Stop right there. I need you to never think that again." He was insistent.

Donna, somewhat startled, looked over at him. Really looked at him. She could read his face again. He was vulnerable, panicked and remorseful.

He scrubbed his hands over his face. "Before you go on I need to let you know what happened."

"I was there, Josh," she supplied.

"Donna, I was drunk."

"We both were."

"I- the next morning. I woke up and I- I didn't remember anything that happened."

"You- wait, you WHAT?" she all but screamed, a million terrifying scenarios running through her mind.

"I had no idea. I thought I'd had a few too many drinks and you'd taken care of me and put me to bed, as per usual. It wasn't until much later- inauguration night, actually, that I realized what had… happened."

"Oh my God. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Donna pinched the bridge of her nose, panicking.

"Do you honestly think that's what I wanted? A one night stand with you? Donna, after all we've been through- do you, do you really think that I'd just change my mind the next morning? You were- I wanted everything with you. It just took a little, or a lot, of courage to work up the nerve."

Donna clasped her hands over her eyes. "Oh my God."

Josh chuckled a bit. "You seem to be saying that a lot."

"I thought you hated me," she choked out, the tears forming in her eyes. "I thought you never wanted to see me again. You said you were mortified about what happened. You offered me money never to talk about it again."

"I didn't know- that's not what I meant. That's not what I thought happened. Donna, surely you couldn't think I'd say those things to you about… that."

She sniffed and looked at the ceiling, trying to regain her composure for what had to come out of her mouth.

"Josh," she began, taking a deep breath.

He reached out and touched her chin, urging her to look at him.

"That night, our night together… We- well, I- I mean," she fumbled over her words. She didn't want to just break down and scream 'you knocked me up' but the way her train of thought was currently derailing in her mind, she wouldn't have been surprised if she did. "Josh, we um… conceived." Conceived? Donna mentally questioned her own ability to speak.

Josh's hand stayed where it was, likely out of nothing more than shock. His eyebrows shot to his forehead and his voice changed dramatically. "What did you just say to me?"

"I got pregnant, Josh. I found out after I left D.C."

"With a baby." His face was like a deer in the headlights. "With our baby."

"Yes, Josh. Pregnant. With our baby."

"And you- you- didn't want to… I don't know… CALL ME?" His hand fell and he stood bolt upright, his confusion turning to rage in an instant. And she knew it would. He shoved one hand into his pocket and began pacing his office like a mad man.

"Josh, listen to me." She remained seated, staying calm for both of them. "Telling you I'm sorry right now wouldn't begin to skim the surface of how I feel. I never meant for it to happen like this. You doing this great thing with President Santos. And I know that there's nothing you take-"

"-more seriously than a Presidential campaign. I KNOW! But God, Donna! That doesn't apply to YOU! What in the hell were you thinking?" Josh slapped his flat palm against the wall, causing her to jump. "Of all the shit- and you of all people! You know me! You were 'tuned' to me," he said the last bit in somewhat of a mocking tone. "You didn't want to run this by me? Holy shit!" He loosened his tie a bit, running his fingers through his hair. His eyes were wide and his face was turning red from anger.

"Against the wall." She said to him, her face stony and her brows furrowed. She could still tell when he was near a meltdown.

He set his jaw and looked at her. "You don't get to-"

"Against the wall, Joshua," she commanded again, standing up and taking a few slow steps towards him. She didn't want to overwhelm him but she knew he had to reign it all in a bit or they were headed for real disaster.

He complied, begrudgingly, and leaned against the wall in his office, straightening his spine and exhaling deeply, closing his eyes.

"Deep breaths," she told him in a soft voice and she walked over and tenderly placed her hand on his shoulder to begin, eventually moving to further loosen his tie and unbutton the top of his shirt, allowing him to feel a bit less constrained. She then stepped back, allowing him some space and leaned against his desk in silence, allowing him as much time as he needed.

He had calmed only slightly when the connecting door to the Oval swung open.

"They need us- Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company."

"Mr. President," Donna quickly hopped to a fully upright standing position.

"Ah," Santos smiled. "Miss Moss! Great to see you! So sorry to interrupt but we need Josh for a bit." He gave her a confused smile and returned to the Oval, shutting the door behind him.

Donna nodded her head as Josh began to snap back into political operative mode, gathering a few things.

"Are you going to disappear?" he asked her, not daring to look up.

"No, of course not."

"Don't say 'of course not' like it's a prepositions idea on my behalf."

"You're right. That's fair. But Josh I'm never going to go off the radar again. I'd like to continue this tonight though, so I can wait here if you'd like."

Josh shook his head. "This could be all night," he wiped his hands over his face, clearly exhausted on so many levels.

"Josh, we've barely scratched the surface of this."

"Donna," he sighed, clearly exasperated. "I have a million things going on and forgive me if I need a minute to, to… process this!"

Thinking quickly she grabbed a post it from his desk, jotting down some information and handing it to him. "This is my phone number. And our current address in New York. Just so you'll always be able to find us. I'm at the Marriott on 14th tonight, Room 637. My flight is early tomorrow morning. I understand if you're busy right now, but Josh… please find the time in the next few weeks to talk to me, okay? Please don't avoid this conversation."

"Yeah," he croaked out, completely unsure of how to otherwise respond. "You remember how to get out?"

"Yes." She hated the formality. He was just beginning to open up to her again and they were interrupted. The wall was back up. He reached for the doorknob, turning it to exit when she spoke.

"His name is Jack," She called out from behind him, pausing for a moment, as did he, before she began again. "His name is Jack, and he looks just like you."

Josh swallowed a lump in his throat and continued to the situation room, knowing he'd crumble into a million different pieces if he turned back to look at her.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Well, kids, the cat's out of the bag now! They didn't get very far, but such is the life of Josh and Donna- interruptions and misdirection. But at least she got it out in the open. Though I'm sure they'll have plenty of things to circle back to! Was this the reaction you thought he'd have? Let me know what you think!