Title: Dark Depths

Author: Lucy Mars

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.....but ABS was nice enough to share them with all of us. ;]

Chapter #9

"And you said that you wouldn't need me." Josh said walking into Leo's office and taking a seat in the visitors chair.

Looking up from his desk, Leo grinned at Josh. "Don't let it get to your head. Toby was to busy to take this."

"So what needs the Lyman touch?"

"Is the Lyman touch anything like the Midas touch?"

"Mr. President." Josh said standing up.

"Nice to see you Josh." Jed grinned, "So are you just temp-ing now? I haven't seen you all day."

"No." Josh laughed, "I'm still working full time here."

"Good." Jed laughed. "I heard about Donna. How is she?"

"Better sir."

"I'm sure that you didn't want to leave her just yet," Jed said throwing Leo a knowing smile, "but we needed you here."

"Of course sir." Josh replied confused by the smiles that the President and Leo were passing each other. "So…what's going on?"

"We've got information that Jones and Gardner jumped." Leo said handing Josh a couple of files.

"When?" Josh asked quickly scanning over the papers.

"Just now. We need you to go to the Hill and fix this." Leo said seriously. "We can't lose there votes."

"Okay." Josh sighed. Well, this was going to be hard. Concentrating on work while worried about Donna. Yeah, this was going to be hard.

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"You don't need to stay." Donna pointed out.

Looking up from the files that he brought with him, Toby shrugged. "I'm staying."

"Do you need help?" Donna asked reaching for the files that Toby had spread over the bed.

"Rest." Toby commanded brushing Donna's hands away.

Rolling her eyes, Donna leaned back against her pillows. "I don't think I can."

"Do I need to go and get a sedative for you?" Toby asked sounding completely serious.

"I don't need a baby-sitter." Donna grumbled.

"Do I look like a gawky teenager trying to make some money?" Toby asked while scribbling down something on his note pad.

"No." Donna laughed. She couldn't picture Toby as anything more than a disgruntled and aggravated man.

"Than I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as a baby-sitter."

"I'll try my best." Donna said sarcastically.

"Donna," Toby sighed looking up from his papers, "rest. If you don't rest then Sam will come in here and see how tired you look. Then he'll tell Josh, because lets face it, Sam can't keep anything from anyone. And then there will be hell to pay because …"

"Are you scared of Josh?" Donna teased cutting Toby off.

"When it comes to you, than yes, I am. Josh is very protective of you." Toby replied sincerely.

"O…ok…kay." Donna stuttered.

"So you'll rest?" Toby asked in that gruff but lovable way of his.

"Sure." Donna lied thinking about what Toby just said.

"Good." Toby grunted going back to his work.

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Rushing back into his bullpen, Josh wasn't surprised to find Sam waiting in his office.

"You got it?" Sam asked anxiously.

"I got Jones and Gardner." Josh said throwing off his coat and handing Sam the files that he would need. "Only took me three hours."

"Hey, you got them. That's what counts. You gonna go and tell Leo?"

"I called him already." Josh said absently rubbing his cold hands, "It is freezing outside."

"You walked?" Sam asked surprised.

"Traffic is horrible today." Josh shrugged flipping through the pile of messages on his desk. "It took me forever to get here from G.W. I didn't want to waste any more time than those two windbags would have cost me."

"Good thinking. Listen, do you need…"

"Wait." Josh said looking up at Sam with a confused expression on his face.

"What?" Sam asked regarding Josh's sudden outburst oddly.

"You." Josh frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"I work here Josh." Sam laughed shaking his head, "Have you had your coffee today?"

"NO." Josh said shaking his head adamantly, "You're suppose to be with Donna. Right now." Josh said looking down at his watch for emphasis. "My watch may suck, but it's not that far off. Why aren't you with Donna?"

"Oh." Sam said sheepishly. "That."

"Yes. That." Josh replied advancing on Sam, "You left her with Toby?!"

"Well," Sam said backing up, "no."

"No?" Josh asked letting out a relieved breath. "So you left her with CJ."

"Well…not exactly." Sam stuttered.

"One of the assistants?"

"No." Sam muttered.

"Sam?" Josh asked in a dangerous tone. "Did you leave Donna alone?"

"I went!" Sam exclaimed pleading his case. "I went at my appointed time and I did save her from Toby and his incessant grumbling."

"Then what are you doing here?!" Josh demanded gesturing around his office. "I can't believe you left her alone!"

Putting his hands up to hold Josh off from attacking him, Sam smiled sheepishly. "I…you see…the thing is…Donna can be very convincing?"

"Was that a question, or a statement?" Josh asked scowling at Sam.

"A statement?" Sam offered. Watching Josh's frown deepen, Sam tried to explain his side. "I went, Josh. I did. I even brought her flowers."

"You did?" Josh asked slight dejected. He was going to get her flowers with dinner. Scrap that idea.

"I did. I got there and she didn't even smile. She yelled!"

"She yelled?" Josh laughed.

"She threw a pillow." Sam added laughing at the memory. "Imagine how I felt. I walk in, ready to entertain her and you know, save her from Toby and what do I get? A pillow launched at my head. She hit me dead on the head."

"She's got a great arm," Josh grinned, "but that still doesn't explain why you're here and not there with her."

"The fact that she was flinging things at me as way of a greeting wasn't a very good sign." Sam explained. "Donna was mad at the, and I quote, 'revolving door of baby-sitters.'"

"So she's mad at me?" Josh asked sitting down tiredly. Dealing with a grumpy Donna wasn't going to be fun, but hey, he didn't know any other way he wanted to spend the night.

"More annoyed than anything." Sam shrugged, glad to see that Josh wasn't about to hurt him. "She promised that she was okay, and made it very clear that, and I quote, 'a big girl.'"

"Still." Josh sighed rubbing his head.

"I'm sure that if she needed anything she would call."

"Yeah." Josh said looking at his phone. Maybe he would call her. Make sure that she was okay. Not checking up on her. No. More like…um…calling to tell her how his meetings went. Score. Perfect cover.

"You done for the day?" Sam asked snapping Josh back to reality.

"Huh?" Josh asked looking up. "No. No. Still got a couple things to do before I can do. Another hour maybe."

"Okay." Sam said lingering at the door. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Josh replied absently as he reached for his phone. His hand was just hovering above the receiver when the phone rang. Grinning, Josh picked it up. Donna had great timing. "Hello?"

"J."

Groaning internally, Josh resisted the urge to pound his head against his desk. The day just kept on getting better and better. First getting interrupted by Officer Dylan, then getting called into work, then three hours with complete and utter idiots who they needed, do Josh had no choice but to be nice and now this. Life just wasn't fair. Was it karma coming back to bite him in the ass? He'd have to ask Donna about that.

"J.!" Amy snapped, "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah." Josh sighed rubbing his eyes. Would it be bad form to hang up on his ex-girlfriend? Wait. Were they over yet? Did he have to make it clear to her? Did they or didn't they break up last night? Oh yeah, the day just kept on getting better and better.

"Where have you been?"

"Working." Josh sighed. He had to refrain from going, 'duh!'

"I've been calling."

"Yeah?" Josh asked trying to feign interest.

"Yes. I've been trying to reach you all morning."

"Yeah?"

"Can we possibly have a civilized conversation?" Amy asked. Even from here, Josh could feel the frost directed at him.

"Sure."

"You're impossible, you know that?"

Josh had to physically cover his mouth, because he knew he'd tell her that Donna loved that about him.

"J.?"

"I'm here." Josh sighed. Sighing. He'd been doing that a lot since he and Amy started their…thing. That was it. It was a thing. It wasn't a relationship. It was a thing. A painful and not very much fun…thing.

"You haven't apologized yet."

"Excuse me?" Josh asked sitting up straight now.

"You haven't apologized yet." Amy repeated.

"I heard you the first time." Josh replied, "I'm confused about what for exactly."

"For being a jackass." Amy shot back.

"That's part of my charm." Josh told her sarcastically.

"Shut up." Amy snapped.

"You can't do that 'don't talk to me' crap over the phone Amy." Josh laughed. Damn it felt good to tell her that. "The beauty of phones are that I don't have to talk to you if I don't want to."

"You know what J.?"

"What?" Josh asked. Should he tell her that he hated that "J." crap too? He was on a role. Why not.

"I was ready to forgive you…"

"Again," Josh interrupted, "for what exactly, I'm not sure."

"…but now," Amy said forging ahead, "I don't think I will."

"Then don't." Josh answered not at all bothered.

"What?" Amy asked obviously surprised.

"I said, 'then don't.'" Josh repeated smugly.

"You jackass." Amy hissed.

"Amy, hate me. Fine. You wouldn't be the only person in D.C. to hate me."

"Of course not." Amy scoffed.

"I think we should see other people." Josh said seriously.

"You're breaking up with me over the phone?" Amy exclaimed. "I cannot believe you."

"It's not working. We're not working."

"Jackass." Amy repeated.

"Sure. Yeah, I probably am, but I would be an even bigger one if I pretended that we were working."

"J.?"

"Yeah?"

"Go to hell."

"Okay." Josh replied. "Bye." Hanging up the phone, Josh couldn't stop smiling. For once in their…thing, he'd gotten the last word. It felt nice. Leaning back in his chair, Josh wasn't surprised when his phone started ringing immediately. Of course Amy wouldn't sleep knowing that she didn't get the last word. Grabbing the phone, Josh held it to his ear as he tried to make sense of the files on his desk. God, he needed Donna to make sense of all this. "Yes Amy?"

"Josh?"

"Donna?"

"Uh, yeah." Donna said sounding uncomfortable. "I can let you go if you're expecting a call from Amy."

"No! No. No." Josh said smacking himself on the head. He was an idiot. An idiot worthy of punishment from CJ.

"Okay." Donna said hesitantly, "Are you sure? If you're waiting for Amy…"

"No. No." Josh said cutting her off. "I'm not waiting for Amy. I was actually just about to call you."

"Yeah?" Donna asked trying to act nonchalant.

"Yeah." Josh grinned feeling the tension from his conversation with Amy melt away as he talked to Donna.

"I just wanted to call and see how your meetings went."

"Really?" Josh asked feeling his grin grow.

"Yeah. Toby filled me in."

"I got them." Josh told her proudly.

"Of course you did." Donna said seriously. For some reason her faith in him made him feel disgustingly proud. "Did you behave?"

"Of course." Josh lied.

"How many letters of apology am I going to have to send out Joshua?"

"None." Josh promised. He'd write them himself. You know, eventually.

"You're going to write them yourself, aren't you?" Donna asked laughing.

"Yes." Josh admitted. See, why couldn't all relationships be like this? Actually fun. Probably because he'd never been in a relationship with Donna. Hmm, that could probably be debated.

"So, you're done?" Donna asked trying not to sound desperate. She was scared and too proud to admit it. Josh would drop everything and come if she asked him too, but then when she was better he would spend countless hours snarking her. And…there was also the fact that Donna didn't like admitting defeat. Especially when she'd gone to so much trouble to guilt Sam into leaving.

"Soon." Josh promised. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Donna rushed.

"Donna," Josh said sounding skeptical, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Donna said slower this time.

"Donna."

"Yes Josh?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Donna lied looking around her slowly darkening hospital room. She was a big girl. She could take care of herself. That was her mantra. She would repeat is over and over again till she felt better.

"All right." Josh sighed. "I'll be done in an hour. Two tops."

"Okay." Donna replied trying to sound brave. A worried Josh usually wasn't a very productive Josh, "Go and work. I'll be fine."

"Okay." Josh said slowly. He was worried, but he couldn't drop his work. This was important. Donna was important. Oh the choices.

"Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to hang up?" Donna asked smiling down into her phone.

"Are you tired Donna?" Josh asked suddenly.

"I've done nothing but lie in bed all day, Joshua." Donna replied rolling her eyes, "I am restless, bored and annoyed that you would even ask me that."

"Whoa." Josh laughed, "Obviously a stupid question. Listen, if you're not tired, do you want to help me?"

"Help you?"

"Yeah," Josh said getting excited with his marvelous idea, "help me. Tell me where everything is. I'll get done faster if you'll tell me where to find things." And he'd be able to work knowing that she was all right. A win win situation. He was brilliant!

"Okay." Donna said feeling relief wash over her. "That's a good idea. I don't want you taking my well ordered files and creating chaos. What do you need first?"

`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

So....did you like this chapter? ;) Alas, this may or may not be the demise of Amy. I haven't really decided yet. Maybe I'll continue to use her as an angst-y plot device....maybe I won't. BUT, rest assured, there will be more JoshandDonna-ness! Quick Question: I've been getting a whole bunch of suggestions of what to do with Amy...and how would you feel if I took the first chapter of Dark Depths and went in a totally hateful-evil-villain-Amy-ish way? Like a suspenseful drama filled thriller-ish fic. Tell me what you think when you review. *wink wink* *nudge nudge* ;] Yeah, I'm working on the subtly thing.

-Lucy

*Quick side note: Does anyone know why when I update my story doesn't appear in the "Just In" section? Just curious.