Author: Angie
Email: AngieSuth@aol.com
Title: Time For Action
Characters: Josh/CJ/Toby/Leo/Margaret and Donna thrown in . . .
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Not so fast, Josh. You set this up – you're as sure as hell going to witness the fruits of your labor
Disclaimer: Not mine at all.
Spoilers: No.
Feedback: Always appreciated.
A/N: Rhonda wanted this and all sorts of people agreed with her. It has been along time coming. Sorry.
Sequel to 'Time Is Up'
*
Time For Action
*
"What's up, Toby?"
Josh watched Toby watching CJ walk across the lobby. It crossed Josh's mind
that Toby had an expression on his face that he'd had never seen there before.
"I'm besotted."
"Oh." Josh began to back away, not sure just how much he wanted to witness of an emotionally-candid Toby. Too late.
"She's got me. Can't think about anything but her and the way she moves, the way she sounds, the way she smells . . ." Toby surfaced from the depths of his reverie to notice Josh sidling away. "Not so fast, Josh. You set this up – you're as sure as hell going to witness the fruits of your labor."
Toby pulled Josh along with him down to the mess and found a quiet table in a corner.
"Aren't we even gonna have coffee?" Josh's voice took on its distinctive whine as he tried to shake off the hand that had gripped his wrist for the last five minutes. His fingers were going numb.
"No." Toby's fingers tightened. "You are going to see what you have cost me. I can't drink coffee when all I can think about is CJ. I can't eat either. It's only been an hour, but I can feel the weight dropping off me already." He glanced furtively round the room. "And to make matters worse, and this really is your fault, everybody seems to know that she kissed me."
Josh grinned. "You didn't seem to be fending her off when I left the room . . ."
Toby sighed and closed his eyes. "This is your fault, Josh."
"You've got a bit of repetition going there, Toby." He too looked around to see if they were being overheard. " And even if, and I say 'if,' I agree to take the blame here, you should be thanking me, not making my life hell through coffee deprivation. This could almost be classed as holding me against my free will, you know!" He raised an eyebrow. "You and CJ could have stumbled through the rest of your lives without finding each other. I mean, come on, give credit where it's due."
Toby stared across the table and Josh swore he saw the flicker of a smile. But then again . . .
"I thought the whole idea of this ridiculous exercise was to sort out your personal life, not someone else's?"
Josh ran his free hand through his hair, the other was still in Toby's vice-like grip. "Well, if you keep holding my hand like this, people will soon be talking about something other than the kiss you and CJ shared earlier." Josh grinned as his words had the desired effect and he was a free man once more.
"Come on, tell me, Toby. Was that kiss all it was cracked up to be? I mean, I know what CJ can do with her mouth," he smirked as the older man narrowed his eyes, "but she didn't give me the high voltage treatment she gave you. You were practically having sex!"
"Josh!" Toby's voice squeaked his disapproval.
Josh stood. "Well if you're not gonna tell me, I'm going to have to get some action of my own. Let it never be said that Josh Lyman is a quitter!" He scanned the mess and his eyes fell on Margaret. He gave her his best dimples.
Margaret gave Josh her best 'suspicious' look and scurried out of the door.
Toby missed seeing Josh trailing after his next victim. Toby had his head on the table. And his mind was already roaming in the direction of a velvet tongue and soft breasts.
*
"Get away from me, Josh." Margaret ran behind her desk and wielded her celery stick like a sword. "I've heard all about you . . ."
"Oh come on, Margaret. Just one little kiss. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself." Josh used his best pleading expression.
"That's not what I heard happened with Will. Poor man is still lying down in a darkened room."
Josh sighed and perched on the edge of her desk. He nodded towards Leo's door. "Is he in?"
"You're not! . . ." Margaret looked aghast and Josh had to laugh.
"Well I did promise CJ that I would take my quest higher if the lower echelons wouldn't play fair . . ."
Margaret slumped down and pursed her lips. "You're not serious are you?"
"Why? Don't you think Leo and I would make a cute couple?"
"Josh – don't even joke about this!"
"Aw, c'mon, Maggie. I promise to leave Leo out of this if you give me a kiss," Josh bit his lip and looked up at her through his eyelashes.
Margaret froze. Then looked over her shoulder at the closed door. "Well, just one then. But make it quick. And no tongue."
Josh didn't need telling twice. He ran round the desk and pulled her to him, sliding his arms around her waist and tipping his head to meet her lips. The kiss was sweet and chaste and . . . seen by Leo McGarry as he opened his office door.
*
"Should I cough?" There was just the slightest hint of strain in Leo's voice.
Margaret froze. This was the stuff of her worst nightmares. She had followed Leo from job to job, across the country and back again; been bellowed at on an hourly basis and only slept when he had slept. All with just the occasional sweetness thrown her way as a reward. That and the relentless hope that he would do to her what Josh was STILL doing.
Margaret pushed at the shoulders of the man who had her in a firm grip and twisted her face away from his determined mouth. "Josh, stop!" She finally gasped out.
Josh sweetly finished the kiss and smiled at the distraught woman in front of him.
"Nice, Maggie. Very nice. Whoever lands you will appreciate those gorgeous lips." Josh appeared oblivious to the man standing behind him, and to the mortification of the woman whose hands he was still holding. "Doesn't help me in my quest though." He smiled gently and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Maybe I'll go and torment Will some more," he teased as he walked away.
Leo watched his Deputy saunter from the room. He couldn't believe that Josh hadn't acknowledged his presence at all. How dare he . . . how dare he . . . kiss his Margaret. Leo didn't know whether to be mad at Josh or mad for Margaret at Josh's rejection; because that's what it was. Hell, if he'd kissed Margaret, there was no way in a million years he'd have been able to stop. How could Josh not have wanted to just keep on kissing her? Leo stopped in his tracks and shook his head. Margaret was still staring at him, tears in her eyes.
"I need to get out of here." Leo walked straight past her and out of sight.
Margaret collapsed in her chair, head in hands. How could this have gone so horribly wrong? She reached for the phone.
*
"Josh Lyman's office." Donna wedged the receiver between her chin and shoulder as she attempted to juggle the mountain of files in front of her. Josh's romantic mission was leaving her with even more work to do, not to mention the emotional clearing up she was now landed with. "On my way, Margaret."
As she grabbed her bag, Donna saw the culprit of so much devastation approach, whistling jauntily. He soon stopped grinning when he saw her with her coat on.
"Hey, where are you going? You haven't finished yet!"
"Correction, Josh. You haven't finished. That pile of files is for you." Donna lifted her hair over her collar. "However, where you *are* finished, is in the romantic department. I am so sick of cleaning up after you and your search for the Holy Grail."
"What do you mean? What have I done?" He looked genuinely bewildered and Donna felt a brief (very brief) twinge of pity for him.
"Look around you, Josh. Do you notice anything different?"
Josh twirled haphazardly, his eyes scanning the empty Bull Pen. "Nothing. There's nobody here to notice . . ."
"Exactly. It is five o'clock and there is nobody here. Will hasn't gotten a thing done today and is still gibbering, Bonnie and Ginger have taken personal time, and Ed and Larry are pretending to have a meeting somewhere. They are all in hiding from you and your wandering mouth."
Josh opened the offending mouth and closed it again.
"So," Donna started to walk, "I am going to put Margaret together again, and you can take advantage of the peace and quiet to get some real work done. And if Leo asks, you can tell him that for the first time in years, Margaret is putting herself first."
*
Donna and Margaret sat on a bench looking out over the water, shoulders touching in a gesture of sisterly support.
"How bad can it be?" Donna nudged her friend. "Leo knows what Josh is like. He's known him all his life; if anybody can believe that you had nothing to do with that, Leo can."
Margaret sighed. "Yeah, but it didn't look all that one sided . . ."
"What do you mean?" Donna's head turned sharply.
"Well, from Leo's point of view, I could have been kissing Josh as much as Josh was kissing me." Margaret's voice trailed off to a whisper, unsure of how Donna would react to that information.
Donna tilted her head and chewed her lip. "Why did you kiss Josh, Margaret?"
"Hell, I don't know. I suppose it just seemed to have been so long since I kissed anybody . . . or anybody ever wanted to kiss me." She carefully considered her next move, wanting to reassure Donna that she had no designs on Josh. "And the man I want to kiss has absolutely no interest in me. I was flattered that I was even in the running or on Josh's not-so-illustrious list."
Donna squeezed her friend's hand. "Come on. We need to get you in to see Leo."
"But . . ."
"No buts, Margaret. You have to face him tomorrow, and at least this way you will have a chance to explain in private that none of this is your fault."
Ten minutes and a short cab ride later, Leo opened his door to an ashen-faced Margaret.
"L. . L. . Leo, " she stammered, " I think we need to talk."
"You'd better come in." Leo moved to one side to let Margaret through and saw the back of Donna's head as she turned the corner. He smiled to himself. That woman was a treasure and the epitome of discretion. He really wasn't sure how they would all manage if she weren't there.
When he came into the living room, he saw Margaret standing rigidly by the couch, coat still on and her fingers gripping her purse.
"Take your coat off and sit down. I'm not going to eat you." Leo saw Margaret flinch and realized, perhaps for the first time, how strongly his behavior affected her. He softened his tone and took her hand.
"Margaret. Sit down with me." They sat on the couch together, Leo maintaining his hold on Margaret's hand and Margaret with a fraction more color in her cheeks. "You know that there is very little I wouldn't do for you, don't you? And if kissing Josh is what you want, then . . ."
"No, Leo!" She jerked round to look at him, horror written over her face. "I don't want to kiss Josh, I haven't kissed anyone for so long . . ."
Her words were stopped by Leo's lips.
"Well, twice in the same day ain't bad, then," he whispered, before kissing her again.
*
Toby opened his eyes, head still firmly resting on the mess table, to see a pair of gray-clad legs less than an inch from his face. There seemed to be a voice attached to them, but it came from so high up . . .
"People are staring, Toby. More than they usually stare. Maybe you should unstick your head, straighten up a little and follow me?" CJ patted him kindly on the head and strode off, ignoring the amused glances thrown her way by the other patrons of the mess.
Toby groaned elaborately and with a supreme effort and an audible crack of his neck, dragged himself to standing. He trailed after CJ, using his nose (in its newly CJ-sensitized form) to guide him.
When he reached her office, he saw CJ leaning against her desk grinning at him. He marched straight in, kicking the door shut, and instead of stopping in front of her in his usual fashion, just kept on going until he was pressed up against her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist and his face wedged into her neck.
CJ laughed, "Toby, what is wrong with you?" She brought her hand up to stroke his cheek and tilted his face towards her. Dropping a quick kiss on his mouth, she moved away before he had the chance to deepen it, putting the desk between them.
Toby looked wounded.
"Now I can just see how you would have looked as a child when your Mom took away your toy . ." CJ teased him. "Don't worry. It's not for long. I just have to try and get your head back in the real world, before the men in white coats come for you."
Toby's mouth twitched and before he could stop himself, he was beaming at her.
"Oh, now I'm really worried."
"No, I'm fine, honestly. Although if I could have had you instead of my teddy bear when I was four years old, there would have been no way they could have got you away from me."
"Toby, you could have had me years ago if you had wanted." CJ looked ruefully at him.
The smile faded on Toby's face. "How could I have been so stupid? Don't answer that." He turned away from her and leaned on the edge of the desk, his hands over his eyes. A rustle and a change in air alerted him that she had moved. Warm hands took his and pulled them away from his face, soft breasts and silk pressed against his chest and then slim hips pressed sensuously against his own.
"But we're here at last. Let's make the most of it," CJ whispered into Toby's neck, "Are you ready to leave for the night? Because if I start kissing you now, there is no way I am going to be able to stop."
Toby grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door. "Let's go." He brushed past Josh in his haste, knocking him out of their way. CJ threw Josh an apologetic, yet radiant smile, as she was dragged from her office.
"See you tomorrow!"
Josh stared after them and smiled softly. He walked back to his office and sighed at the pile of files on his desk. He had made no headway at all, and he could see that yet another night - not spent in his bed - was the only option. His reverie was broken by the phone ringing.
"Hey. Where are you? I thought you were with Margaret? . . . She is? Wow. Good work there oh young assistant. . . . Yeah, they just left together, just hope they don't get caught making out in the car, you could cut the sexual tension with a knife . . ."
Donna smiled into her cell phone. "Well, I'm off home to my lonely bed. I'll see you in the morning." She paused and continued, "Josh . . .Josh? Maybe you did some good with your craziness today after all. Yeah . . .bye."
Josh replaced the handset. And stared at the phone. Then, with a sigh, he lowered himself into his chair and opened the file at the top of the heap.
*
CJ opened her eyes and blinked myopically at her strange surroundings. As the night's events replayed themselves in her head, she couldn't stop a grin stretching across her face. She felt the warm body next to her shift slightly and . . . suddenly she disappeared beneath the covers, yanked down the bed by her ankles.
"Toby!" A squeal of laughter and a groan as muscles that she hadn't used in ages made themselves known.
Toby surfaced above her, the sheet over his head still, grinning like an idiot. He looked into her eyes for a moment and then ducked back down again. CJ's smile faded to a moan; her eyes fluttering closed as she inhaled deeply through her nose. Toby's tongue and hands pushed all rational thought from her mind and she didn't care that, at last glance, the clock had read eight am.
Screw work. Just this once.
"Screw me, Toby." And he slid inside her.
*
Leo opened his eyes and stared at the living room ceiling above him. He hadn't slept on the floor in years and his back was protesting, but the rest of him couldn't have been happier. He was still holding Margaret's hand.
Leo didn't have to turn his head to know she was there, that it hadn't been a dream.
Margaret was still wearing her coat, but her head was resting on his shoulder and her legs were tucked neatly up beside her.
"Are you awake, Leo?"
"Yes, I am now. In more ways than one." He touched her nose briefly with his index finger. "I'm not an easy man, Margaret."
"And yet, amazingly, I stick with you."
"You do, don't you." Leo smiled. "Thank you. I never said thank you."
"You're welcome."
"What do you want, Margaret?"
Margaret stood and stretched her long cramped body. She looked down at the man before her, a soft smile on her lips. "I want what I've waited years to have, Leo. I want you."
"Then take off your coat and stay awhile," Leo joked, his hand curling around her
ankle. "You know I do my best work early in the mornings."
*
Donna dumped her bag down by her chair and hung up her coat. The Bull Pen was still deserted. This time, though, with good reason - it was early, even for the usual early starters. She heard a noise from Josh's office and grabbing her coffee, went in search of trouble.
Josh lay with his head pillowed on blue file after blue file. Donna bent and wafted her Starbuck's cup under his nose, waiting for the aroma to penetrate the fog. An eye opened.
"Here, have this. I think you need it more than me. And then I think you need a shower, Josh"
"Coffee, Donna? You brought me coffee?"
"No, Josh, I brought me coffee. Coffee that I am donating to you as a needier cause. Just don't get used to it." Donna sat in the chair opposite and studied the wreck before her.
"You know, I've been thinking . . ."
"Never an encouraging sign,"
"Will you shut up and let me finish?" Josh glared at her and slurped at his coffee. "I've been thinking . . . I'm giving up."
Donna lifted her eyebrows.
Josh continued, "God knows I can't fit anything more into my life right now. How many women would put up with me just not coming home because I had work to do?" He tipped the cup to his lips again and took a long draught. "Nah. It'll have to wait. The kissing is over. I'd virtually run out of victims anyway."
Donna nodded and breathed deeply. "I think it's for the best, Josh. I think it's for the best."
The End
