Hello my wonderful people! So here's the last chapter in this series and I hope you enjoy it. Big spoilers for What Kind of Day Has it Been? But I guess that's pretty obvious, ha.

Anyway, a big thank you to my amazing friend and beta Shae-Lynn1, you made this story so much better and I couldn't have done it without you. Love ya!

Also, thank you to all the people that have been following this story, I write for you and I thank you for all the amazing reviews you have sent me. I appreciate it all.

So enjoy the chapter and keep a look out for the next story in the series :D

Calliope Jae x


Chapter 12: Hold on

The Newseum

Rosslyn, Virginia

"Toby!" CJ ran down the steps of the Newseum to join Toby and Josh, who had turned and were waiting for her. She gave Toby a hug. "It landed, have you spoke to David yet?" She asked, as they continued to walk slightly behind the President and his entourage.

"Not yet, I er... I called Penny to make sure she knew he was, you know, safe. I'll call David later." CJ fixed Toby with a stare and he chuckled. "I will, I'll call him first thing tomorrow."

"Toby!" The President called back to him and Toby ran forward. Josh slapped him on the back as he went and Toby grinned. Josh turned to look at CJ and he took hold of her hand.

"It's been a good night, hasn't it?" He asked her, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

"It has and it's only going to get better," she winked at him and jogged to catch up with the President, a big smile on her face. Josh grinned and put his hands on his hips. He looked down towards his belt and noticed his pager was missing. He thought back to when he'd last had it and cursed; he must have left it inside.

"CJ!" He had to shout over the loud cheering of Bartlet's faithful followers but it seemed she still hadn't heard. He saw Sam walking just behind her and he reached out to tap him on the shoulder. "Sam!"

"What's up?" Sam had turned to look at Josh and he bowed his head so Josh could speak into his ear.

"I left my pager inside, tell CJ to have the car wait for me." Sam nodded to show him that he'd understood. Josh gave him a thumbs up and turned towards the Newseum. As he was running back up the stairs, taking two at a time, he heard someone shout something behind him. He turned back to look at the crowd when he suddenly heard a loud crack sound through the air. Everything seemed to slow down for Josh and after what seemed like an eternity there was another crack and then another one. All of a sudden he realised what had been shouted.

GUN!

Everything seemed to come rushing into action as the crowd dispersed and ran for cover, more gunshots rang in his ears and he ran to the fence to try to see what was going on. People pushed passed him as he tried to make his way back to his friends but as he ran towards the stairs, he felt something hit him and he stumbled. His hands shot out to catch himself on the wall near the stairs but he was knocked back when a man banged into him carrying a crying child in his arms. Josh fell to the floor feeling stunned and there was more gunfire, creating an odd ringing in his head.

He heard a woman scream loudly over all the noise and Josh thought of CJ. He suddenly had a renewed sense of energy as he tried to get up, the only thing on his mind was finding CJ but he couldn't get his legs underneath him. He held onto the wall as he tried to push himself up but his legs once again gave out and he collapsed, pain shooting through his torso. He coughed and the pain increased, this time his hands shot to his ribs instinctively and he was confused at the warm sticky substance he found there. He looked down at his hands and felt his breath catch in his throat.

"CJ..."

-x-

Josh's apartment: the night before

"CJ..." Josh trailed his tongue along her collarbone and she moaned into his neck. He was sat with his back against the headboard and CJ was straddling his hips, moving on him with slow deliberate strokes. He hugged her naked body to him tightly and buried his head between her breasts, his breathing deep and rough. "You're killing me," he laughed huskily and CJ smiled at the sound of his muffled voice.

"Is this not what you want?" She asked, biting her bottom lip and rolling her hips. He groaned and lifted his head to look at her face.

"I think you know what I want," he kissed her hungrily and she returned it with equal energy. While he was busy concentrating on her lips, CJ took hold of the headboard and started a quicker pace. Josh pulled back from her mouth and sucked in a deep breath. "Ah, CJ..."

"Be careful what you ask for, Joshua," she winked at him and Josh let his head roll back but he kept his eyes on her. There was nothing he found more arousing than watching CJ when she was in control.

Josh moved his hands to her hips and gripped them tightly, helping her keep the fast pace she had set. CJ leaned forward slightly and he took the opportunity to take one of her nipples into his mouth, he sucked it hard and enjoyed the way she pushed into him slightly. Josh tangled a hand into her hair and pulled her head back gently so he could lick his way to her neck. CJ hummed in the back of her throat and he could feel the vibrations on his tongue. She quickened her pace even more and Josh folded his arms around her waist as he thrust up into her.

"Josh, I'm so close..." At the change in speed Josh could feel the familiar tightening begin, making him thrust harder. CJ let her head fall forwards so their foreheads were touching and she suddenly tensed in his arms. "Josh!" Her movement faltered as she came and Josh returned his hands to her hips helping her keep the steady rhythm.

"Ahhh!" He felt himself explode into her and he held her hips down as he recovered. Josh collapsed back and let out a satisfied sigh. CJ ran her hands over his chest and he pulled her towards him so she was lying on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and ran his hands over the damp skin of her back; they were silent as they allowed their breathing to return back to normal.

"I can't feel my legs anymore," CJ said with a small chuckle.

"Here," Josh helped her lift up slightly so she could sit in between his legs and rest her back on his chest. "Better?" He asked wrapping his arms around her.

"Much," she pulled the sheets up over their legs and snuggled against him. After a few minutes of silence CJ spoke up again.

"I had a strange conversation with my dad today."

"Yeah?" He kissed the side of her head and CJ hesitated for a few seconds, wondering if this was really the right time to bring it up. "Is he ok?" Josh prompted her to continue.

"Yeah, he's fine. It was just something he said... or maybe it should be 'didn't say'." Josh frowned.

"Like what?"

"He couldn't remember my mother's name." Josh paused.

"Molly's?" Even as he asked he knew he was wrong.

"No, my mother Josh. My mother, his high-school sweetheart..." she ran a hand through her hair trying to get her emotions in order. "He couldn't remember her name." Josh wasn't sure what to say, what comment could he have that would make this situation any better?

"Has he done this before?"

"No. It was only for split second but..." she closed her eyes and thought back to the conversation with her dad.

CJ was rooting through her bag for her keys when she heard the house phone ringing. She cursed but managed to pull out her keys and run into her apartment, she reached the phone just as it had switched to speaker phone.

"Hello?" She was a little out of breath when she answered.

"Claudia Jean, I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time." CJ smiled.

"No daddy, I just got in from work. Your timing couldn't have been better." She shrugged out of her coat, juggling the phone to keep it at her ear. "How are you?"

"Absolutely fine, how are you darling?"

"I'm fine," she flopped down on her sofa and kicked off her shoes.

"How's work?"

"Busy."

"And Josh?"

"Even busier but he's good."

"That's wonderful to hear."

"Yeah, I'm going over to his apartment tonight for dinner. I'd like the two of you to spend some more time together when you next get chance to visit." She pulled her legs underneath her and settled back into the cushions.

"Well actually that's what I'm calling about. Molly and I are coming to stay in DC for a few days." CJ smiled, looking forward to the thought of spending some time with her dad.

"That's great, when are you coming?"

"In two weeks. Molly booked us into the... the..." he paused and CJ waited for him to continue. "Dang... you know the place. I always stay there, the bed and breakfast place." CJ frowned as she listened to her dad muttering on the other end.

"The Capitol Hill townhouse, daddy."

"That's the one!" He paused after his exclamation. "Are you sure that's the name?"

"Yes," she chuckled nervously at her father's odd behaviour, "It's where you and Molly always stay."

"Yes well, we're staying there."

"How long for?" CJ asked, she picked up her diary from her bag and flicked through to get an idea of what she would be doing in two weeks time.

"Just a week, we wanted to see everyone but especially you, CJ. I haven't seen you since Christmas. Of course we tune in for your briefings... which reminds me, Molly said you've lost weight and that you need to eat better." CJ rolled her eyes. "Needless to say we'll be returning to Dayton so I can visit Marion's grave. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"Who's Marion?" Thinking that perhaps an old family friend had died, CJ felt bad about not remembering the name and person.

"Marion! The woman that raised you and your brothers." CJ froze as she was still looking through her diary. She couldn't find any words to describe her confusion at that moment and she felt tears sting the back of her eyes.

"Daddy... mom's name was Lydia."

"What?"

"Her name was Lydia." CJ swallowed back her tears as Tal went quiet.

"Of course it was," he sounded morose and CJ could feel a million emotions spreading through her body.

"Dad, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Claudia Jean, why do you ask?" He sounded to CJ as if the last few minutes hadn't happened and it left her feeling lost.

"No reason," she said quickly.

"Ok, well Molly has my dinner ready so I ought to go. Take care of yourself sweetheart and say hello to Josh for me."

"I will, I love you daddy," she still wasn't sure what had happened but Tal seemed perfectly fine now.

"I love you too, Jeannie." And with that he hung up, leaving CJ speechless.

"I thought your dad didn't call you that," Josh said, after she finished telling him what had happened.

"He doesn't, he stopped when mom died." She went quiet and Josh hugged her tighter, still unsure of what to say. "You know, maybe I'm reading too much into this. I know he's been under a lot of stress lately and maybe it's all just getting to him." She tuned to look at Josh properly, a hopeful expression crossing her face. "This doesn't mean anything, right?" Josh looked into her eyes and shook his head.

"No and I think you might be right," he ignored the funny feeling that made him think there was something to her father's funny behaviour and continued. "Maybe things have become a little too heavy, it's happened to us all, hasn't it?" He kissed her cheek softly and CJ chuckled thinking of all the things she'd forgotten in the past due to stress.

"You're right," she seemed to have picked herself up and she smiled at him feeling a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry I brought this up now, you know, after sex and everything."

"If we can't talk like this, even after sex, then there's something wrong," he nudged her shoulder and smiled. "You have nothing to apologise for."

"Thanks," she kissed him soundly and Josh patted the bed next to him.

"You should get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."

"Yeah," she settled down next to Josh, who was on his back and rested her head on his chest. Josh played with her hair as she settled down and waited for her to fall asleep before allowing himself to join her.

-x-

The next morning

Josh woke to the sound of an alarm. He groaned when he looked at the time, 5am! It was the only drawback to spending the night with CJ, she always got up unnecessarily early. He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist when she tried to get out of bed and pulled her back to him.

"Stay," he asked, his voice slightly muffled from his head being buried between her shoulder blades.

"I need to shower, Josh, go back to sleep." She tried once again to sit up but this time Josh pinned her to the bed and climbed on top of her. He leant forward to nibble on the soft skin at her neck and let his hands wander over her body. CJ planted her hands firmly on his chest and pushed him away. Josh rolled over onto his back and covered his face with an arm, letting out a low groan.

"Just so you know, this is cruel." CJ turned back to look at him and smiled.

"Maybe you should start your own foundation, you know like, The Prevention of Cruelty to Josh Lyman." She pulled on a sweater and a pair of shorts and slipped into her fuzzy slippers. Josh rolled his eyes, his arm still over his head. It was far too early for this kind of torment. He grabbed a pillow from behind his head and threw it at her without really knowing where she was. "Just so you know, I'm on the other side of the room." CJ chuckled and left the room quickly before he could throw anything else at her.

Twenty minutes later CJ emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped round her hair. She'd changed back into her sweater and shorts and was once again wearing her fuzzy slippers. She slowly made her way to the kitchen where she found Josh standing in front of the stove.

"Morning," she stepped up to him and looked over his shoulder into the pan he was cooking with. "Scrambled egg!" Josh laughed and passed her an empty cup with his free hand.

"I also have bacon and toast over there, help yourself and I'll have the eggs ready in a minute." CJ grabbed a plate and helped herself to the food and a fresh cup of coffee. She jumped up onto the counter and dug into her delicious-smelling food.

"How are you feeling today?" Josh asked as he spooned scrambled eggs onto her plate.

"I'm fine," she said, smiling.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, not looking forward to this morning though." Josh leaned against the counter as he started to eat his own food.

"The town hall prep? Why?"

"Because he's going to mock me all through it."

"The President?"

"Who else?" Josh laughed and CJ kicked him gently with her foot. "It's not funny!"

"You are very thorough when you're prepping someone for something like this."

"Yeah, but you can't tell me it hasn't saved your ass more than a few times," she gave him a pointed look and he shrugged his shoulder. "Can you tell me what happened the last time you didn't listen to my advice?"

"Which time?"

"Exactly," she grinned smugly and Josh rolled his eyes. Ok, he'd walked right into that one. He put the last piece of bacon in his mouth and drained his coffee.

"I have to shower, wanna join me?" He swaggered over to CJ but she pushed him away.

"If you'd gotten out of bed when I did then there might have been a chance but now I have work to do." She jumped down from the counter and put the dishes in the sink to be washed later. Josh made a face but CJ ignored him and went to sit at his desk. While he begrudgingly went to take a shower, CJ checked the early morning wires. A little while later, that was where Josh found her, he tightened the towel around his hips and ran a hand over her shoulders as he passed her.

"Anything new?" He asked from his bedroom.

"Nothing that's going to cause us any trouble," CJ entered the bedroom too and started to get changed. "I'm going to head in, I need to meet with my staff about the prep so I'll see you there." Josh nodded and he watched her get dressed.

"See something you like?" She asked, fastening her pants and slipping on her blue shirt.

"Yes, but you're covering it all up. I think we should do something about that," he crawled across the bed to get to her but she backed away.

"Josh, stop it." She batted his hands away playfully.

"You'll regret this if I get hit by a bus on my way to work," he pouted, his lip in a child like fashion and CJ chuckled.

"If you get hit by a bus then I'll give you anything you want."

"That's not going to be much use to me if I'm strapped to a hospital bed." CJ walked over to him and kissed him.

"Yeah but think of all the things we can do with those straps..." she winked as she walked away from him and Josh shook his head to rid his thoughts of any images involving CJ and straps. "See you later."

"Yeah," Josh remained where he was standing for a while, seriously thinking about starting The Prevention of Cruelty to Josh Lyman foundation.

-x-

CJ's office.

That afternoon CJ walked into her office to see Josh sitting behind her desk and working at her laptop. He had files and memos all over her desk and she stood in her doorway, a frown on her face as she surveyed her office.

"Did I miss something?" She asked.

"Hmmm?" Josh was reading something and CJ knew he wasn't really listening to her.

"Is this your office now?"

"What?" Josh finally lifted his head and saw CJ looking at him. "Oh, er... no. I don't have a chair." He went back to his work and CJ peeked into his office through their adjoining door.

"What happened to it?"

"Donna sent it to the shop to be fixed."

"We have a shop? I thought it was just Robby and his team downstairs," she leant against her desk and accidently moved some of the papers on it. Josh grumbled quietly and impatiently moved his work.

"It is."

"So we have a shop now?" CJ asked. She knew she was irritating him but she was rather enjoying it.

"No."

"Why are you in my office?" She asked after a few seconds.

"Because I don't have a chair," he looked up at CJ as if she'd lost her mind.

"So find another one and get out of mine."

"But..." he indicated to all the paper in front of him, "I have work to do."

"Well, so do I and seeing as though this is my office, I get first priority."

"I have important stuff to do." As soon as the words left his mouth he wished he could have put them back in. He looked up at CJ and she starred at him disbelievingly.

"And I don't?" She put her hands on her hips and Josh knew she was preparing to fight for her place.

"I didn't say that," he held his hands up as if to surrender and smiled. "I just meant that..."

"Josh, if you don't move your body from behind my desk then so help me..." Josh stood up quickly, recognising danger.

"Ok, ok." He quickly gathered his work and moved so CJ could sit down. "You know, it's nice to share."

"Yeah, I was never very good at sharing the things I really wanted." She smirked triumphantly. "Now go away." Josh lingered for a few seconds, his arms overflowing with papers.

"I'm going jogging," he said, hoping for a bit of sympathy from her but CJ didn't even look up from her work as she spoke.

"Have fun with that." Josh frowned at the underlying sound of enjoyment in that sentence and turned on his heel to find Donna. CJ laughed to herself when he left and when she looked up, she saw that Toby had replaced him in the doorway.

"Hey," he said, quietly.

"Toby, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing." CJ paused, giving him time to continue but it soon became clear that he wasn't going to.

"So... you're blocking my doorway because...?"

"I thought I'd supply you with something nice to look at," he made his way into her office and sat down on her sofa.

"Well, that's great and as much as I enjoy looking at you, I have things to do." She returned to her work but Toby stayed where he was and after a few seconds he took a deep breath.

"I forgot David was up there." CJ glanced up at him. "I didn't... I didn't know they'd..."

"Toby?"

"They kept switching the dates and then something happened and they..." he trailed off and stared at his hands as if they held answers.

"He'll be ok, David is always..." Toby scoffed and shook his head.

"You don't know that."

"No but I know David and I know that he..."

"He's not the same man he was 15 years ago, Jeannie," he rubbed a hand across the back of his head and let out a big breath.

"What happened?" CJ asked after a little while.

"I'm not sure, something to do with the bay door."

"That's not what I was asking," she said softly.

"I know," he cleared his throat. "It's complicated."

"He's your brother..." Toby stood up angrily and CJ stopped talking.

"Yes, I'm aware of our connection, CJ. Thank you." He took a few minutes to get himself under control. CJ didn't deserve his wrath, she was only trying to help and after all, he had gone to her. "There's just a lot you don't understand," he said at last.

"It doesn't matter Toby. This is your family and family is the one thing that will always be there, you stick by each other and you look after each other but most of all... you forgive each other. What ever happened between you and David, it's not worth fighting over, it's not worth giving up that wonderful friendship you always had." She took a deep breath and Toby was quiet while he mulled her words over in his head.

"I need to talk to Sam," he said abruptly.

"Ok." CJ looked up at him with wide surprised eyes. Toby walked to the door and hovered there for a second before turning back.

"Jeannie?"

"Yeah?" Toby gave her a small smile.

"Thanks," and with that, he left CJ to her work and made his way to his office.

-x-

Town Hall Meeting

The Newseum

"Do it again." Josh was standing underneath the walkway bridge inside The Newseum looking up at Sam, who was above him.

"Are you going to catch it this time?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, come on, do it again," Josh clapped his hands, bent his knees to give him a steady stance and opened his mouth. Sam took a peanut from the packet in his hand and lined it up with Josh's mouth. Just as he dropped it, Josh heard a voice and he snapped his head around.

"What are you doing?" CJ was standing behind him. Josh opened his mouth to say something but the peanut hit his head. He looked up at Sam.

"I wasn't ready!"

"Yes you were, I dropped it then you moved. You missed it again!" Sam popped a nut into his own mouth and smirked at Josh.

"I hope you choke on that," Josh shouted up to Sam and CJ gently punched him in the arm.

"You could choke doing that," she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a pointed look.

"I will not, I'm not a child CJ..."

"You could have fooled me."

"I'll have you know..."

"Bonnie said you wanted to see me?"

"Oh yeah," he gave her the 'signal' and she laughed.

"Please don't do that anymore."

"Do what?"

"That gesture," she did it herself and couldn't help laughing again.

"Why not?"

"Because you just look so ridiculous when you do," she rubbed a sympathetic hand over his arm and Josh frowned.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, still smiling. As she was about to leave to turned to Josh again, "And no more playing with the peanuts!"

"We're celebrating, we're having some fun." He looked up at Sam, who gave CJ a big grin.

"Yeah well, don't expect me to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre when things go wrong." She shook her head and as she turned away she heard Josh shouting up to Sam to try again.

After the President had finished the talk CJ and Sam made their way out of the building together, talking about Columbus.

"Have you spoken to Toby?" Sam asked, holding the door open for her.

"No, I haven't seen him yet. I bet he's relieved to hear the good news." Sam nodded.

"Sam?" Bonnie was standing behind him holding a phone and he signalled for CJ to go on without him.

"I'll see you down there," she said pointing in the direction of the motorcade. As she walked to the steps she saw Toby and Josh walking just behind the President's entourage and she jogged towards them.

"Toby!" She made her way down the steps and flung her arms around Toby's shoulders. She heard Josh chuckle behind her and they began to walk towards the motorcade. "It landed, have you spoke to David yet?"

"Not yet, I er... I called Penny to make sure she knew he was, you know, safe. I'll call David later." She fixed Toby with a stare and he chuckled. "I will, I'll call him first thing tomorrow."

"Toby!" The President called back to him and Toby ran forward. Josh slapped him on the back as he went and he grinned. CJ felt Josh take her hand and squeeze it gently.

"It's been a good night, hasn't it?" He asked her, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. She nodded and bit her lower lip.

"It has and it's only going to get better," she winked at him and enjoyed the mischievous look on his face. She laughed and gave him a smile before heading towards the President. By this time Sam had caught up with her and was standing behind her.

"He said he wasn't working the rope line." The two watched the President walk straight to the people and shake hands with as many as he could.

"And you believed him?" She gave Sam a doubtful look and he nodded.

"Yeah, that was a mistake." CJ laughed and went to supervise what was going on at the barriers. A few moments later Sam reappeared at her side.

"Josh has gone back for something, he said don't go without him."

"Ok," she continued to walk behind the President while keeping a watchful eye on the press when she heard Gina shout something.

"GUN!!!"

The first shot sped through the air and CJ saw Gina knock Charlie to the floor. She turned around to look for the President but he'd already disappeared. She felt ice cold terror flood through her body as an agent accidently ran into her and she reached out a hand to grab hold of something to stop her from falling.

All around her CJ could hear people screaming and she felt, more than saw, people running for cover but she couldn't move. Where was Josh? She turned around and tired to concentrate as she desperately searched the sea of faces for him. She took a few steps forward when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her down to the ground. She felt something pull at her neck and she hit her head on the hard concrete as she landed. She felt glass shatter above her and as she tried to get up someone pushed her down again and she felt a body cover hers. The person now on top of her told her to keep still and she did as she was told.

She suddenly couldn't breathe and she wanted urgently to get away. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to take in a deep breath but found it difficult with the added weight on top of her. Panic over took her as she struggled against the arms holding her down.

"You have to stay down!" A frantic voice shouted in her ear but she couldn't stop her body, it seemed like it was acting on its own. "CJ!"

Her mind seemed to be going blank and when she opened her eyes there were black spots in her sight. She felt a dizzy wave pass over her and reached out to grip the hand of the person on top of her. Her last thought before she passed out was of Josh and she heard the voice again in her ear.

"It's going to be ok Ceej, we're going to be ok."


Hope you guys have enjoyed this story as much I have enjoyed writing it – bring on the next one I say :P

Please leave a review or pm me, all comments are greatly appreciated! xxx