Snow Is In The Air, a west wing fanfic

TITLE: "Snow Is In The Air"

RATING: PG-13

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own 'em.

NOTES: This was written about a year ago, in response to the December '03 challenge on JDFF. The challenge was for J/D to have a walk through the snow. However, this doesn't really concentrate on the walk, it's more about the after-effects g It is total fluff as well, so enjoy! :-)

THANKS: A big thank-you to Sharon for acting as beta on this; seriously, your comments crack me up!!

FEEDBACK: Please, just send it my way.

"You're late," Josh said as soon as Donna arrived at her desk. He was standing in his doorway, waiting for her.

"I know," she responded while hanging up her coat.

"You're late," he stated again, moving into her cubicle.

"Yes, Josh, I do know that. Is there a point to this?" she asked in exasperation.

"Not really," he admitted with a smirk. "I just wanted to point out that you're late and I'm not."

Donna let out a long sigh. "Okay, well then, I admit it. For once, in the many years I've worked for you, I am late for work. I apologize."

"I should think so too," Josh teased. Donna moved so that she was now standing directly in front of him, toe-to-toe.

"Joshua, don't start with me. I've had a crappy morning so far, you *don't* wanna be the one who makes it even worse," she warned.

Josh automatically took a step back, his eyes growing wide at her words.

"Uh, okay, I'm sorry. But, are you gonna tell me why you were late? I nearly missed the Senior Staff meeting as a result."

She sighed again. "Josh, can't you do *anything* without me?"

"Yes," he defended. "I said I *nearly* missed Staff, I did get there though…and only a few minutes late," he added in a proud-of-himself tone.

"Fine, so we really don't need to get into this right now, do we? I have work to do."

"Donna," he said in a whiny tone. "Look, you didn't even call me to say you were running late. I was…I was worried."

Donna's face softened a little as she saw the sincerity in his eyes, but she still wasn't prepared to let him off the hook for teasing her. "Did you try calling me?" she asked pointedly.

"Yes!" he replied. "There was no answer in your apartment. That was what got me worried. Did you…did you not stay at your place last night?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, Josh, I did. I had probably already left by the time you called me though. Why didn't you try my cell?" she asked gently, pointing towards the cellphone she had placed on her desk.

"I did, it's switched off."

Donna picked up her cell and realized Josh was right; it was switched off. She quickly turned it on and placed it back on the desk.

"Sorry, I didn't realize."

"Wait, you said you'd probably already left when I called you. But, I called you nearly an hour ago," he stated in a confused tone. "It's only a 20 minute drive, tops, from your apartment."

"Yeah, it is, but my car wouldn't start," Donna explained. "I sat in it for around 20 minutes trying to get the damn thing to go and then gave up and walked. With the snow on the ground it took me a while to get here. That's why I'm wearing the boots," she said, indicating the boots on her feet that her pant legs were tucked into. She then took her shoes out of her bag and started to change into them.

"Um, okay, but why didn't you take the metro?"

"Because, Josh, with the snow outside *everyone* is taking the metro and I'd have never got on it. It was easier to walk the full way."

"Okay, well, you're here now. I guess that's the main thing." Josh started to walk back to his office but Donna's voice stopped him.

"Josh, thanks for being worried," she said quietly. He turned around to face her.

"Yeah," he replied softly. "But, you know, if you'd buy a better car than that heap of junk you drive, you wouldn't have had this problem."

"And if you paid me more, maybe I could afford to take that advice," Donna shot back with a smirk.

Josh tried to say something but couldn't think of an appropriate response and retreated into his office.

"Josh, can I go?" Donna asked as she entered Josh's office late in the evening.

He looked up at her after glancing at his watch. "It's still kind of early, have you finished everything for the day?"

"No," she admitted. "But, the snow has stopped, so I'd like to go now. If I wait until later it'll be impossible to get home."

"Just take the metro," he suggested, his tone showing he didn't know what the big deal was.

"Josh, as you know, I still have a long walk form the nearest metro stop to my apartment; Georgetown isn't exactly well served and I'm way at the other end from you. Look, I'll come in early tomorrow to catch up, although I might need to get my car picked up by a mechanic if it still won't start."

"I tell you what," he replied. "Why don't you go back to your desk and finish everything off *now* and I'll take you home later? That way, you can get your car sorted out in the morning without having to worry about rushing to get here."

"Fine. But, I still don't want to work too late tonight, Josh. We should still get out of here before the snow gets too bad."

"Yeah, I know. The sooner you go back to work, the sooner we can get out of here," he commented, causing Donna to roll her eyes.

"I'm done," Donna announced as she re-appeared in Josh's office about an hour later.

"Good for you," he said in an applauding tone, "but I'm not, so you'll have to wait a bit longer."

"Josh," she whined. "I'm tired and it's been snowing again."

Josh looked out of his window quickly. "It's not snowing right now," he stated.

"No, but it *was*, and it undoubtedly will again. Can't you finish off tomorrow, or take the stuff home with you?"

"No, I can't. But, if you leave me alone I'll finish a lot faster."

Donna sighed in exasperation and left his office.

"Ready to go?" Josh asked twenty minutes later. Donna was sitting at her desk, typing up some notes that weren't really needed and Josh's voice startled her a little; they were the only people left in the bullpen.

"I've *been* ready for the last 20 minutes," she replied, standing up and grabbing her coat.

"Well, let's go," he said, helping her on with her coat and leading the way out of the West Wing.

"Hmm, okay, I don't think this is gonna work," Josh commented as he and Donna surveyed the mound of snow built up around his car, and realized there was no way of digging it out.

"I agree. What are we gonna do now?" Donna asked, her voice a little whiny due to tiredness and cold.

"We walk," he replied.

"What? Josh, it's cold and everywhere is covered in snow."

"Donna, stop being so melodramatic. We only need to walk to the metro."

"And then walk from there to our apartments, which as we discussed earlier, is a fair old walk."

"It'll be fine, come on," he said, placing a guiding arm on her back and starting to walk.

As they were walking, they decided there wasn't really any point in trying to catch a metro, for all the distance it would take them they were just as well to walk. They chatted about some work issues along the way, walking quickly to avoid becoming too cold. Josh kept an eye out for cabs, but the few that were braving the snow were already taken.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Donna said as they reached the intersection which led to Josh's apartment in one direction and Donna's in another.

"Huh?" Josh responded quizzically.

"Josh, you live that way," she said, pointing in the direction of his apartment. "And I live *that* way," she continued, pointing in the other direction.

"Yeah, but, well, don't you want me to walk you home?"

Donna shook her head. "There's no need, Josh, I'll be fine."

"No, Donna, I want to make sure you get back okay," he said somewhat forcefully.

"Josh, you'll be going totally out of your way. You'll need to walk all the way back here, it's stupid."

"Well, why don't you just stay at my place tonight?" he suggested, bouncing on-the-spot and rubbing his arms to try and stay warm while they had their discussion.

"Um, what?"

"It'd make sense," he said seriously. "You're right that there's no point in me walking all the way to your place to then come back here again. So, there are two options; I either walk you home and stay at *your* place, or you stay at *my* place, which is much closer and has a spare bedroom."

"And what do I do about clothes?" she asked.

"Well, I can loan you stuff to wear tonight and you once said that you always carry a change of stuff with you in your bag, just in case. Do you still do that?"

She nodded her head hesitantly. "Yeah, but only…you know, underwear and stuff. I'll still need to change for work tomorrow."

"Can't you just wash the stuff you have on?" he suggested. "You could put it through the dryer."

"Uh, no, Josh, I can't. This stuff can't go in a dryer, and besides, I can't wear the same stuff to work tomorrow, even if I have washed it."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Women," he stated, cringing at his own comment as he saw Donna raise her eyebrows. "Well, I'm sure the snow will have lifted by tomorrow. We'll go to your place first thing in the morning so you can change and then we'll take a cab to work. You can call a tow-truck to pick up your car to get it fixed. How does that sound?"

Donna didn't respond immediately and Josh was beginning to wonder if she was going to refuse.

"Donna? Do you think you could make a decision sometime in the near future? It's cold out here and God knows what people must be thinking about us standing aimlessly on a street corner at this time of night."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Okay, we'll go with your suggestion. I really don't think I could walk all the way to my place anyway, the thick snow is difficult to walk in."

Josh held out his right arm for her and she wrapped her left hand around it as they both started to walk again.

As they neared Josh's apartment, there was a little less snow on the ground; it had been walked on so much that it had turned into slush. This made it even more difficult to walk on and it wasn't long before Josh was sliding around.

"Aaaah, hell," Josh said as he slipped again and was unable to recover. Donna was still clutching his arm and when she tried to let go, Josh grabbed onto her with his left hand to stop himself from falling to the ground. He failed and they both landed with a thud on the sidewalk; Josh on his back and Donna on her side, half on top of Josh – her right leg lying across his legs.

"Josh, you okay?" Donna asked quietly as she sat up on the ground and looked down at him, still lying on his back.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied weakly, making no attempt to move.

"You just had to pull me down with you, didn't you?" Donna remarked.

"Yeah," he said, giving her a half-smirk.

They looked at each other, covered in snow and slush and burst out laughing. After a few moments, Josh finally tried to sit up but found that his right side and his back were hurting him; the fall had antagonised the pain he still felt as a result of the shooting.

"Josh?" Donna said questioningly, with worry in her tone as she stood up.

"I'm alright. Can you help me up?" he asked, holding out his hands for her to pull him up.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked again once he was standing.

Josh rubbed his side vigorously, trying to get rid of the pain and to inject some heat back into his body. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll probably have a bruise though," he replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm probably gonna be a little bruised as well, but I had more of a soft landing than you did, or rather, my right leg had a soft landing."

"Namely, my body?"

"Yep, although I still hit my side off the ground."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I was just trying to stop myself from falling, I didn't meant to pull you down as well."

"I know; it's okay. Why don't we get to your apartment so we can change out of our now wet clothes?" Donna suggested.

Josh agreed and held out his arm for her again. She refused it and Josh's face fell, taking on a look of guilt. It quickly subsided as Donna took his right hand in her left; they walked in silence towards Josh's apartment.

"Man, am I glad I left the heating on the timer so it was warm for getting back tonight," Josh said as they entered his apartment and took off their wet coats.

"You and me both," Donna replied, flopping down onto the couch.

"Listen, will you be alright here for a few minutes?" Josh asked. "I'm gonna grab a quick shower to heat myself up."

"Uh, yeah. But, could you leave some sweats out for me so I can change out of this stuff?"

"You're probably best to shower before you change. I'll only be a couple of minutes, can you hang on?"

Josh was now standing in front of Donna and she looked up and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll make myself a cup of coffee in the meantime."

"Okay. I'd let you go first," he said, pointing towards the bathroom, "but you'd probably take ages to wash your hair."

"It's fine, Josh. Go," she instructed, standing up from the couch and moving towards the kitchen.

"Hey, is there any of that for me?" Josh asked as he entered the kitchen about ten minutes later.

Donna looked up from the mug in her hands and felt her breath catch a little as she saw that his hair was still damp from his shower.

"Well, it's coffee, so I'm not going to pour it for you, but there is some in the pot if you want to get it yourself," she said through a smirk.

Josh rolled his eyes, but helped himself to coffee and sat down beside her at his kitchen table.

"I left some stuff in the bathroom for you, some sweats and a pair of boxers; I figured you'd need to change out of everything. I also took the liberty of running a bath for you, I even put in some of that girly stuff that CJ insists on giving me every birthday."

Donna smiled warmly at him. "Thanks, Josh, I appreciate that." She swallowed the last mouthful of coffee and stood up, placing the empty mug in the sink. "Well, I'm gonna go…" she pointed towards the bathroom and Josh nodded.

Donna took her time in the bath, letting the warm water soothe her. The bruising from her earlier fall was already starting to appear, one of the many downsides of having such fair skin. She breathed in the scent of the kiwi bubblebath and made a mental note to thank CJ for giving it to Josh as a gift and making him promise not to throw it out.

She finally drained the water from the bath and toweled herself off before putting on the clothes that Josh had left for her. She bundled her worn clothes into a heap and carried them into the guest room so that she could put them in a bag to take home the following day.

"I don't suppose you have a hair-dryer anywhere in this place, do you?" Donna asked Josh, walking into the living room to find him lying along the couch.

He looked up at her, noticed her wet hair and got up from the couch to head to his own room. He returned a few moments later with a hair-dryer and handed it to her.

"I can't promise it'll actually work," he said. "I don't exactly use it very often. In fact, I think my mom left it here."

"You don't use it? I'd never have known," Donna quipped and Josh narrowed his eyes at her in mock-anger.

She returned to the guest room and dried her hair, re-emerging about fifteen minutes later with her hair now dry and sitting down in one of the armchairs.

"Anything on?" she asked, indicating the TV, which Josh had on a low volume.

"Not really," he replied, switching the TV off again. "I was actually just going to put some music on, if that's okay?" Donna nodded and he moved to the cd player, switching it on and grabbing the remote. "I don't know what's in here, but it'll have to do, I can't be bothered changing cd's over," he said.

The cd turned out to be Phil Collins and the sound of 'In The Air Tonight' soon filled the apartment. Josh placed the remote on the coffee table and sat back down on the couch. He was rubbing his back a little, which was something that did not go unnoticed by Donna.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, I think the bruising's coming up already though," he admitted.

"Mine too," Donna confessed and Josh looked at her intently.

"Does it hurt?"

She shook her head slowly. "Not really, I think the bath helped. It's gonna be hell when I try to go to sleep though…it's the side I usually sleep on."

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"Josh, it was an accident. What hurts with you, your back or your side?"

"My back. It took most of the impact."

"How bad is the bruising? Do you need an ice pack?"

"It's not that bad. I looked in the bathroom mirror and it seemed okay, from what I could see. I'll try and put something on it later."

"Like what?" Donna asked.

"I have some liniment oil around here somewhere, I'll use that."

"Will you manage?"

"Huh?" He gave her a quizzical look.

"Well, I'm assuming it's going to be pretty difficult for you to reach all the places on your back that hurt," she said simply.

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to help?" she offered quietly.

Josh looked at her intently for a moment and then a smirk appeared on his face. "Only if I get to return the favor," he replied.

Donna's eyebrows rose immediately and she stuttered her response. "Wh…what?"

"Well, you've got bruising as well, right? I can return the favor by applying the oil to you." His dimples were out in full force and Donna couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"Yeah, but I can manage to put it onto my side myself, Josh."

"That doesn't sound like a fair trade, Donnatella," he said through another smirk.

"Josh." She tried to use a warning tone but it came out as more of a sigh.

"Okay, well you can do me first and then we can take it from there," he suggested, standing up from the couch and going into his bedroom.

He returned a few minutes later with a bottle of liniment oil and sat back down on the couch, beckoning for Donna to join him. She sat down beside him and took the proffered bottle from his hands, taking off the lid and scrunching up her face as the smell of the contents penetrated her nose.

"This stinks," she stated.

"Yeah, I know. Believe me, I wouldn't use it if my back wasn't hurting so badly." He turned around, so that he was facing away from her and lifted his T-shirt over his head, throwing it onto the floor beside the couch.

While Josh was removing his T-shirt, Donna moved on the couch so that she was facing his back and tucked her legs underneath her to make herself more comfortable. When she was confronted with his bare back she let out an audible gasp, noticing its muscular line. Josh heard her gasp and smiled to himself, rolling his shoulders slightly to emphasize his muscles even more.

Donna poured some oil onto her right hand, put the bottle on the coffee table with her left hand and then rubbed her hands together. She finally placed her hands on Josh's shoulderblades and it was his turn to gasp; her touch felt like shots of heat to him, even though her hands were somewhat cold.

"Okay?" Donna asked hesitantly, worried at his gasp.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied in a slightly strained voice; he was trying to ignore the sensations that her hands were causing within him.

After a few more moments, Donna pushed him a little more forcefully. "Lie down," she instructed and Josh turned his head back to look at her quizzically. "It'll be easier," she explained.

Donna stood up from the couch to let Josh lie along its length on his stomach. He crossed his arms underneath his chin and rested them on the arm of the couch.

"How's my bruising?" he asked. His voice had a husky tone and he mentally kicked himself and tried to calm his breathing down.

"It's not too bad at the moment," Donna replied. "But, I think it's gonna be pretty bad tomorrow. Okay, um…" she trailed off as she tried to think of an easy way to continue rubbing the oil onto Josh's back.

"What is it?" Josh asked, looking behind him to see Donna standing nervously.

"I just…" she stammered, indicating that she wasn't sure where she should now sit.

"I won't break," he commented, waving his left hand in the area of his legs and moving slightly away from the back of the couch.

Donna took a deep breath and moved so that she was straddling Josh's legs, one knee either side of him and just barely managing to stay on the couch. She reached for the bottle of oil again and this time poured it straight onto Josh's back, her hands then spreading the oil liberally.

They remained silent for the next few minutes, both listening to the other breathing and noticing the quickening pace every time Donna's hands made contact with Josh's back. She finally stopped moving her hands and patted his back quickly before standing up from the couch.

"I'm just gonna go wash my hands," Donna said quietly, her voice a little raspy. Josh nodded and pushed himself up from the couch. "You shouldn't put your shirt back on yet," she stated as she looked back and saw him grabbing his T-shirt from the floor. He looked at her questioningly and she explained, "It'll stick to your back, the oil hasn't soaked in yet." He nodded silently and dropped the shirt on the floor again before putting the lid back onto the bottle of oil.

"So, it'll be my turn now," Josh said through a grin when Donna returned from the bathroom.

"Huh?" she asked, sitting down in the armchair.

"To put the oil onto *you*."

"Josh, like I said, I'll manage to do it myself," she responded quietly, dipping her head to avoid his piercing gaze.

"And as *I* said, that's not fair," he retorted, trying to pout.

"What is this? You show me yours and I show you mine?" she asked in exasperation, trying to prevent the conversation from getting out of hand.

He shrugged his shoulders, drawing Donna's eyes to the expanse of his bare chest. "Something like that. Why should you get the thrill of having your hands on me if I don't get to do the same to you?" he asked, managing to keep his tone neutral.

"Josh!" Donna exclaimed, betraying her shock; although she and Josh often came close to the line with their comments to each other, they never went this far. Josh never took his eyes from her face and she finally met his gaze.

"Donna," he said gently, his tone full of tenderness and a quality that Donna hadn't heard before.

"Anyway, who says it was a thrill?" she quipped, trying to bring the conversation back to their usual banter levels.

"Well, I know it was a thrill for me," he admitted, his tone husky and gravelly. "I think you enjoyed it as well, if your heavy breathing was anything to go by."

Donna felt her face flush as he stared at her raptly. She tried to dip her head, but was transfixed by his eyes. Josh got up from the couch and knelt down in front of her chair. He took the bottle of liniment from the table and unscrewed the lid again, still never moving his eyes from Donna's. The bottle was placed back on the table as he inched closer to her, finally letting his gaze move to her left hip. He used his right hand to slowly lower the waistband of her sweats to just below her hip and he heard the large intake of breath that she took; he matched it with one of his own.

"Okay?" he asked gently, his eyes searching hers again. She nodded at him and he reached for the bottle of oil, pouring a little onto his hands before placing it back on the table. Donna felt like she was jumping out of her skin as his hands touched her hip, gently rubbing the oil over the bruised area. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip as his hands caressed her. Josh looked up at her and saw a mixture of pain and pleasure etched on her face, causing him to smile – not his usual smug smile, but one of happiness.

He removed his hands from her hip and Donna brought her left hand to the waistband of her sweats so she could pull them back up; Josh placed his right hand over her left to stop her. She looked at him quizzically, but put her hand back in her lap. Josh rubbed his oily hands on his jeans to remove the excess and then leaned forward, placing a feathertouch kiss on Donna's hip before pulling her pants back up over her waist.

Josh moved so that he was now resting on the balls of his feet, his head almost level with Donna's. He cautiously placed his right hand back on her left hip and massaged it gently with his thumb, watching Donna's expression all the time. He slowly took his left hand and placed it on the right side of her waist, moving his right hand up so that it was resting on the other side of her waist.

Donna looked startled at first, but Josh smiled at her warmly, reassuringly, and she slowly smiled back, moving her hands from her lap to Josh's forearms. She leaned forward so that their faces were almost touching and Josh hesitated for just a second before bringing his lips to hers.

They breathlessly broke apart after what seemed like an eternity, their eyes searching each other's, looking for any signs of regret. When they found none, they smiled at each other and Josh stood up, holding out his hands to Donna to pull her up with him. They touched their foreheads together and brought their breathing back under control.

"So, is there anywhere else you might need me to rub oil?" Josh asked Donna suggestively.

She contemplated for a moment and then responded in a husky tone. "Well, that depends, Josh. I seem to remember CJ giving you kiwi scented massage oil as well as the bubblebath. Do you have any of *that* left?"

Josh's eyes grew wide and he grinned at her. "Oh yeah!"

"Well, how about you go get it and meet me in your bedroom?"

Josh didn't need to be asked twice; he took off at breakneck speed for the bathroom and pulled everything out from under the sink until he found the kiwi scented oil. He grabbed it and quickly headed to his bedroom, pausing at the door to take in the sight of Donna making herself comfortable in his bed.

"Who gets to go first?" he asked through a grin as he stood beside his beside, placing the oil on his nightstand.

"We both do," Donna replied, stretching her arms out for him to crawl into.

The kiwi scented massage oil soon became forgotten as they acquainted themselves with each other in a way that they had both long-since dreamed about.

THE END