Disclaimer – I don't own any of these characters – they are the property of NBC, John Wells and the fabulous Aaron Sorkin.

Rating – PG for now

Pairings – Josh/Ellie, Ellie/OC

Spoilers – None

Summary – Josh Lyman meets Eleanor Bartlet during the campaign and falls in love with the young, married medical student. For the purposes of my story, Ellie is several years older in this story and very different than she is on the show.

I've had this story in my head for years, and have finally forged the courage to begin writing. Here's hoping you enjoy it!! The song by Evanescence, "My Immortal" is the soundtrack for the story.

Leo stood in the White House Situation Room leaned against the table, frozen in place. He couldn't hear or see anything around him – he could only feel. Unbelievably, heart-wrenching, overwhelming pain. His son was dead. Jed was at his side, supporting Leo's weight with his arm, unable to say anything to his best friend.

"Leo," the President whispered, "I think it's time to get out of here."

"Yeah," Leo muttered, leaning against the President for support. They walked together to the doorframe and suddenly, Leo froze. He looked up at the President with wide, terrified eyes. "Ellie."

The President nodded. "We'll tell her together."

"Okay," Leo muttered, beginning the longest walk of his life. He was on his way to tell his wife and daughter-in-law that David was gone.

"Coming!" Ellie answered the persistent knocker at the front door. She was silently hoping it was Josh. She was also silently dreading it was Josh. What would she do if she found him on the other side of the door?

She flung it open to find Leo and her father standing on the other side – their expressions stone-faced and pained. Her eyes darted between the two men she adored, desperately trying to read their faces. "Daddy?" she questioned.

"Eleanor," he began slowly, "May we come inside?"

"Sure," Ellie muttered, stepping away from the door to allow them to enter. She didn't miss how her father was literally holding all of Leo's weight on his own arm, or how her father-in-law seemed to walk as if his body were made out of concrete. The President motioned to his Secret Service man, who nodded and closed the door, taking up position in Ellie's hallway.

She followed the men over to the couch and sat down in David's recliner. "I'm going to ask this one time, and I want the truth," she said. "What's happened?"

Jed Bartlet nodded. "What I am about to tell you, Eleanor, you would never have found out if your father wasn't the President. At nine o'clock this evening, our time, David launched his F-18 from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman. His mission was to take a out what we believed was a chemical weapons facility on the border of Iraq and Afghanistan."

Jed watched his daughter's reaction as began recounting the story. Ellie already knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her husband was dead – her father wouldn't be here detailing a classified mission if he weren't.

"The Iraqi soldiers at the facility launched a series of anti-aircraft missiles at David."

"His body?" she interrupted, not wanting to hear any additional details of her husband's death.

"His body was recovered. He's being flown back to the U.S.," he explained.

"When?" she asked quietly.

Jed hung his head and glanced at his best friend. Leo had given up the fight to suppress his tears for Eleanor's sake and sat sobbing quietly on the couch.

"Edwards at eight a.m."

"Do I..." Ellie chocked on the words. "Should I..."

"You only need to be there if you want to, Ellie. In less than an hour, this is going to be the leading story on every news channel from coast to coast," he shook his head. "I'd personally prefer for you and Leo and the family to be in seclusion, where we can control things."

Ellie nodded and finally began to sob as the realization hit her. David was dead. Her husband – the man she'd loved every day of her life for thirty years was gone. She stood from the recliner and crossed over to the couch, sitting down between Leo and her father. Leo immediately wrapped his arm around his daughter-in-law, trying his best to comfort her while lost in his own grief and pain. Jed leaned against his daughter, stroking her hair while they all cried.

Josh sank down to the floor against the wall in C.J.'s office. "When is David," he caught his breath and started again. "When is the body..."

"Edwards," C.J. answered, "eight a.m."

"How's..." he was completely at a loss for words. Less than twenty-four hours ago, David McGarry was standing in his office, threatening him to stay away from Ellie. Now, he was dead.

"I haven't talked to the President again since he told me they were going to tell her," she answered.

"What about Leo?"

C.J. swallowed hard. "He's crushed beyond anything any of us can imagine."

"How do we deal with this?" Sam asked curiously from the doorway. "I don't want to be the one to talk politics right now, but..."

"Someone has to," Toby interjected.

"I'm still working on that," C.J. explained. "We'll tell the truth, at least what truth we can tell. David's mission was classified, and Defense is working on a story for us."

"Where's the family going to be?" Toby asked.

"As soon as Jenny and Mallory are told, Leo will collect his family and bring them to the White House, along with Ellie, Zoey and Liz," she answered.

"Seclusion?" Josh questioned.

"As much as possible," she nodded. "The President is going to be the face of the family."

"I'll get working on...." Toby began; then stopped. "Something. I'll get working on something."

"I'll help," Sam answered, following Toby out the door.

C.J. glanced at Josh, who was still crumpled on the floor. "Joshua?"

He just sat there, staring straight ahead. C.J. wasn't sure he'd even heard her. "Josh!" she said more forcefully this time.

His head snapped over to where she stood and he looked at her with a blank expression. "Yeah?"

She sank onto the floor beside him. "You can't see her, Josh."

"But, C.J., I have to," he argued.

"No, you don't," she answered forcefully, then softened from his horrified expression, "At least not yet. Josh, I'm going to get questions."

"I love her with all my heart, C.J., and I've kissed her twice," he answered honestly. "But that's it."

"Okay," she answered quietly.

"I just can't believe," he said. "He was just here yesterday morning."

"I know, it's crazy. I can't tell you how many phone calls the President has made to families who have lost their loved ones in military action. He and Leo always knew there was a risk, but..."

"C.J.?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, Josh?"

"When you see her, will you tell her that I love her?"

C.J. closed her eyes and sighed. "I'll do my best."

"Thanks," he said gratefully. He stood from the floor and offered her his hand. "I've got to wake everyone and get them into the office."

"Yeah," she responded, crossing over to her desk. She glanced up at Josh as he hung in the doorway.

"When I say you can't see her, Josh, that means no phone calls, either," she said.

"Yeah."

"Josh?" she eyed him seriously. "I mean it."

"Okay," he said again.

She watched him walk out of her office, wishing she could chase after him and take away every form of communication he had available to him. He was a man on a mission and she knew it. She just hoped his mission wouldn't crush the entire administration.

TBC...