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

Rating – PG – 13 maybe. Ellie's a little hacked off at Josh and there's no telling what's going to come out of her mouth.

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!!

A/N – The election is over, Bartlet's been re-elected and Sam probably really shouldn't be there anymore, but quite frankly, I don't like Will as much. He's not as cute and he's not as funny – so we're going to pretend that the dude in California didn't die and Sam never ran for his Congressional seat, thereby giving him absolutely no reason whatsoever to leave the Bartlet Administration.

"Josh?" C.J.'s voice was raspy and weak and Josh shook the sleep from his head.

"C.J.," he complained, glancing at his bedside clock. "It's four in the morning."

"I'm sick, Josh," she said with a slight whine.

"Take some aspirin and I'll see you in the office later," he recommended, resting back on the bed in anticipation of going back to sleep.

"Josh, I have the flu. I have a 104-degree fever and I'm not coming in to work today."

He sat up suddenly, swinging his feet down onto the floor. "You're what?"

"Not coming in today, Joshua. Wake the hell up. If I'm miserable, then by God you're going to be miserable too," she answered irritably.

"Who's going to do the briefing?" he asked curiously, remembering in vivid detail the last time he was asked to do the briefing.

"Guess what, Sparky," she answered with a cough.

"No, C.J.," he shot back, fully awake now. "No! Don't you remember what happened the last time I did the briefing?"

"Learn from your mistakes, Joshua. I'm sorry, but there's no one else," she said.

"Okay, fine. I'll do it, but you owe me," he warned.

"I'm sure," she muttered.

"You'll owe me big, C.J., huge..."

"Don't screw up and we'll discuss it," C.J. answered, hanging up on him.
"Josh!"

"Josh!"

"Josh!"

"Pamela," he called out, pointing at the cute, blonde reporter from the NY Times. She stood quickly and began rattling off her question.

"Josh, the President is meeting today with the Lord John Marbury, isn't that correct?"

"It is," he answered, quite pleased with how the briefing was going up to this point.

"Can you tell me what that meeting is about?"

"Of course I can," he answered with his most charming smile. "The President is inviting several friends from England to the Inauguration and he will be discussing that along with several other items with Lord Marbury."

"What other items would that be, Josh?"

"The possibility of Beckham being traded to another team?" Josh said with a laugh. "Honestly, I have no idea. The President's meetings with the Ambassador tend to take on a life on their own."

"Josh!"

"Josh!"

"Yeah, Todd," he said, glancing down quickly at his briefing notes.

"Josh, the Committee on National Public Healthcare released their report this morning and in it, they detailed a plan on how the Administration could realistically incorporate a National Public Health Insurance System during the next four years."

"I haven't read it yet," Josh answered honestly, scratching the side of his face.

"How much consideration is the Bartlet Administration going to give the report?" Todd asked.

"Well, I'm sure that considering that this was the pet project of the President's middle daughter, he'll look at it, but other than that," Josh grinned.

"But other than that, what?" Todd questioned.

"We'll have to look at the report, Todd, I can't intelligently answer any questions about it until I've read it," he stated.

"But since Eleanor McGarry's on the committee, he'll look at it?" he asked.

"She's actually gone back to Bartlet now, and yeah," Josh said with a shrug. "Okay, folks, that's all the time we've got for now." Josh stepped from the podium and headed into the hallway with Carol on his heels. Sam met in them in the hallway.

"She's going to kick your ass," Sam warned.

"I did great," Josh answered, slapping Sam on the back.

"I'm not talking about C.J.," Sam clarified. "I'm talking about Eleanor. She's the one who is going to kick your ass."

"What for?" Josh wondered aloud.

"You called the Committee on National Public Healthcare her 'pet project'," he answered.

"I did?" he asked with a frown, trying to recall the briefing. His cell phone rang in his jacket pocket and he reached in to get it. "Hello."

"HER PET PROJECT?" C.J. screamed. "I leave you alone for one day and you go off and call CNPH Eleanor's pet project? You just took away the Committee's entire credibility in one sentence!"

"C.J," Josh answered defensively.

"Shut up," she said, "I'm dizzy. I have a 104 degree fever and the flu and you've made me dizzy." He stayed quiet, waiting patiently for C.J. to sit down and stop the room from spinning. "She's going to kick your ass," she mused aloud.

"So I'm being told," he answered, beginning his procession down the hall again.

"You're an idiot, Josh," C.J. complained loudly. "Fix it. I don't care what you have to do, I don't care whose ass you have to kiss, but fix it."

"Yeah," he answered snapping the phone shut.

"And I'd start with Eleanor," Sam chimed in.

"You could hear that?" Josh frowned again, examining his cell phone closely.

"She was pretty loud," Sam answered.
Ellie stormed into Josh's office and slammed the door. "PET PROJECT!" she screamed, her arms flailing wildly.

"Honey, I..." Josh stammered, standing to greet her.

Ellie's finger was suddenly in his face. "Don't you 'honey' me. Don't you 'baby' me. Don't you say anything, Josh." She paced the room angrily, glaring furiously at him. "I can't believe you. Yes, I can, you're an egotistical, self-centered maniac."

"In my defense," he began.

"Shut up!" she yelled, continuing her pacing. "I have worked on this Committee for three years, Josh. I have poured three years of blood, sweat and tears into this project..."

"Honey, I know," he tried again.

"I told you to shut up," she said through clenched teeth. "We finally, finally, get a plan together that's realistic. One that the administration could get behind and be proud of. One that would mean hundreds of thousands of uninsured families would have medical coverage."

"Ellie," he started.

"What part of shut up did they not teach you at Harvard?" she said belligerently, leaning onto his desk with her fists.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"Trying desperately not to slug you in the face," she answered honestly. "I'm..."

"You're pissed, honey, I get that," Josh answered, stepping over to her and attempting to wrap his arms around her waist. "Come on, our six month anniversary is tonight."

"You're joking, right?" she asked, her eyes cold as she pushed his arms away. "I'm not pissed, Josh," she said weakly. "I'm hurt. In one short sentence, you've belittled and diminished three years of work. How would you feel if I did that to you?"

He considered her words carefully before answering. They'd been arguing regularly lately – the stress and the strain of the campaign and Inaugural planning taking an enormous toll on both of them. They hadn't had sex in over a month and hadn't spent one night together in the last two weeks, thanks to Ellie's suddenly obnoxious work schedule. He knew he was sitting in a very precarious position that could, quite possibly, lead to the biggest fight they'd ever had. Tonight, he'd planned a nice dinner for Ellie and in his sock drawer was a ring. An engagement ring - and he was hoping she'd say yes.

"Josh?" she demanded. "I asked you a question, and I'd like an answer."

"I don't know how I'd feel, Ellie, because I know you'd never be stupid enough to do something like that to me," he answered.

Ellie shook her head and laughed bitterly. "That's because I think before I speak, Josh. Something you never seem to have mastered."

"I'm sorry," he said, hanging his head.

"That's not good enough, Josh," she answered. "Tonight's off. I don't want to see you tonight."

His eyes widened in shock. "Ellie, I..." he stammered.

"NO! Josh, I need to be alone right now. I need to think about some things. I have to figure out a way to explain to these wonderful people I've dedicated so much time to that this colossal mistake can be fixed." She shrugged away from him and headed for the door. "You've really fouled up this time, you know that, right?"

"I do," he said with a nod, "and I'm still really sorry."

"Well, if you're not now, you will be shortly," she promised, throwing open the door and storming out.

TBC....