Title:  Insight

Rating: PG

Spoilers:  Through S5

Disclaimer:  I don't own 'em, much as I wish.

Archive:  Sure, but ask first.  All my fics can also be found at the website I share with Sharon – see my profile for details.

Feedback:  Always appreciated

Notes:  Thanks to those who've sent feedback asking me to continue this.  Sorry for the delay, but things have been hectic lately.

3/?

**

"Alright, before we finish up, I have a brief statement to make," CJ said as she addressed the White House Press Corps for their Monday morning briefing.  All eyes focused on her with curiosity, since none of them had heard any rumors about a potential story.  "Josh Lyman had an accident in the office on Saturday night and spent the night in George Washington hospital before he was released yesterday morning."  She stopped and looked across the room, catching Danny's eye and briefly smiling at him to show her gratitude for him not leaking the story the previous day; he was the only one whose sources had told him about Josh's hospital visit.

"CJ!  CJ!" the reporters called.

"I'll take a couple of questions in a moment, I have more to add," CJ stated.  Looking back down at the statement Toby had written with Josh's agreement, she continued, "As a result of the accident, Josh has lost his sight."  Gasps of disbelief filled the room and everyone stared at CJ.  "The doctors believe it is only temporary, but there are no guarantees.  Josh has been advised to wear dark glasses until his sight comes back so, if you see him around, don't think it's just his ego over-acting again," she grinned.

"He's going to keep working?" Katie asked.

"Yes, there's no reason why he shouldn't," CJ confirmed.

"Will any of his duties be affected?" Katie asked as a follow-up.

"We're going to lighten his load a little, but the majority of things will stay the same.  Donna Moss, Josh's assistant, will take a more active role in his meetings, to ensure that he can use all relevant data and, therefore, some of her duties will be re-assigned, but most things will continue as normal."

"How's Josh handling this, CJ?" Danny asked.  "And, how did the accident happen?"

"Josh is taking it in his stride.  As you know, it takes a lot to faze him and, as he reminded me just this morning when I asked him the same question, a bullet couldn't stop him, so this won't either.  As for how it happened, we're actually not sure as Josh doesn't remember and there were no witnesses but, from what we can piece together from Donna's account of how she found Josh lying on his office floor, it appears he spilled some coffee and then slipped on it, banging his head off his desk as he hit the floor."

There were a few chuckles around the room as they thought of Josh slipping on spilled coffee, but they soon remembered the outcome and became silent again.

"Any further questions?" CJ asked, knowing there would be more to come.  "Peter?"

"Was there any consideration given at any point to Josh taking a leave of absence?"

"Josh never considered taking time off," she answered, quickly getting her notes together and preparing to leave the podium.  "That's it, I'll have more for you later."

"CJ!  CJ!" the Press Corps kept calling as she left the room.  CJ quickened her stride and headed to her office.

"You didn't answer that last question, CJ," accused Danny as he caught up with her.

"Danny, I don't have time right now."

"Who wanted Josh to take time off?"

"Danny."

"Come on, CJ, you avoided the question."

"I answered the question," she stated.

"No, you answered a question, but not the one that was asked."

"Danny."

"Who wanted Josh to take time off?" he repeated as they arrived at her office.

"Josh isn't taking time off."

"CJ –"

"Danny, I have work to do.  Josh will continue to work and we'll see how it goes."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, get out, Danny!"

"Bye, CJ," he grinned as he finally left.

"Carol, if Danny tries to come back here again, have a Secret Service Agent remove him from the building," CJ loudly told her assistant as she watched Danny's retreating back.

"They won't do it, CJ, they like me," called Danny from down the corridor.

"They like me more!" she called back.  Danny chuckled, but didn't reply.

*

"So, how many calls have there been?" Josh asked Donna as they went over notes to prepare him for his first meeting with people from outside the West Wing since the news of his blindness had been announced.

"You don't want to know."

"That many?"

"Yeah."

"Nice calls, or gleeful calls?"

"Josh, they're hardly going to call up and say 'glad you're blind, Josh, now you won't be able to tell whether we're bluffing or not'."

"No, but I bet they're thinking it."

"Probably," she admitted.

"Doesn't matter anyway, I'll still know if they're bluffing."

Donna raised her eyebrows in curiosity and then remembered he couldn't see her doing that anymore.

"How?" she asked.

"Well, they say that your other senses are heightened when you lose one of them and I've learned that's actually true."

"How do you mean?"

"I can pick up things… in people's voices, things I couldn't always tell before.  It's… it's hard to explain."

"Does that mean you'll be able to tell when I'm lying now?"

"I can always tell when you're lying, Donna, it's just that I sometimes choose to ignore it," he grinned.

"So, if I was to tell you that you're wearing odd socks today, would you believe me or not?"

"I'd say you were lying."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because you sorted my laundry out last night and you wouldn't have mismatched them, you're not cruel enough for that."

"I'm not?"

"Okay, now I can hear the evil streak in your voice.  Donna," he warned, "if I find out that I'm wearing odd socks, you're gonna regret it."

"Don't know me as well as you thought you did, do you?" she grinned.

"You're evil, you know that?"

"Yes, I do.  Now, can we get back to the notes for this meeting?"

"Yeah."

*

"Well, that went surprisingly well," commented Josh as he and Donna returned to his office after the meeting.

"You thought they'd put up more of a fight?" she queried.

"No, I mean, we managed to get through it pretty smoothly, with the stats side; we make a good team."

"Yeah, we do," she agreed with a smile that he could hear, even though he couldn't see.

"You handled it really well," he told her as he entered the office and knew he was on familiar territory.

"It was nothing, Josh," she shrugged, unaccustomed to his compliments.  She knew he often praised her to other people, but he rarely praised her in person.  "I just read from research."

"No, you did the research, then you interpreted it and made sure we all knew where the other was coming from.  Given that you were having to remind me of data without it looking like I didn't know what I was talking about, it was impressive."

"It was nothing," she repeated.

"You also made a number of valid points and got them to listen to you, now that isn't nothing," he continued.

"You must have hit your head even harder than I thought," Donna muttered.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"You muttered something."

"It was nothing."

"You keep saying that, but it's not true.  You said I must have hit my head harder than you thought; what does that mean?"

"You heard that?"

"Yes.  Like I said earlier, it's true that your other senses are heightened when you lose one.  Now, what did you mean?"

"Nothing, it's just…"

"Just what?" he pressed.

"It's just not like you to comment on my work, Josh, unless I do something wrong," she finally said.

"I know," he admitted, "and that's something I'm trying to change.  You did well today, Donna and I shouldn't have expected anything different; I just didn't expect you to do quite as well."

"Scared I'm gonna take over your job while you're not looking?" she teased, though she bit her lip when she realized how bad a pun she'd made considering Josh's current state.

"Well, now I'm scared," he shot back.  "Seriously, Donna, thanks for helping out like this; if it wasn't for you, I'd be on a forced leave of absence right now."

"No, you wouldn't be.  That would have been discrimination and you wouldn't have let Leo do it."

"I wouldn't have dragged it through the press and he knows it, Donna; I'd have given in for the good of the Administration."

"I'm glad you didn't have to," she said honestly.

"So am I."

*

"You ready to go to Senior Staff?" CJ asked late in the afternoon.

"It's that time already?" Josh groaned.

"Yeah, time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?"

"Something like that."

"Let's go then."

"Yeah, can you…"  Josh trailed off as he stood up and held his arm out for CJ.

"What?" she queried in confusion.  "Oh, right, yeah, come here," she said, tucking his left hand into her right arm and leading him from his office.  "Do you need any files or anything?"

"It's not like I can reference them," he snapped.

"I meant is there anything you need to pass on in the meeting, anything Donna typed up for you," CJ said pointedly, letting Josh know she wasn't going to tolerate the pity party he currently seemed to be throwing for himself.

"Oh, no, it's okay, I'm just gonna give a verbal rundown and Donna will issue the meeting minutes later."

"You okay?" CJ asked as they walked towards the Oval Office.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied quickly, but then decided that she wouldn't buy that answer.  "I'm just tired, I didn't realize how much being like this can take it out of you," he admitted.

"Is that why you sent Donna to the OEOB, so she doesn't nag you to go home?" CJ guessed with a grin.

"No," he defended.  "Well, yeah, maybe," he amended. 

"She's just worried about you, Josh."

"You've talked to her?"

"While you were with Toby earlier."

"Oh."

"Want to know what she said?"

"No."

"You're lying," CJ smiled as they entered the outer office of the Oval and Charlie told them the President was on a call and would be a few minutes.

"Wouldn't you be breaking some 'girl talk' code or something if you told me?" Josh grinned, trying to conceal the fact that, while he wanted to know what Donna had said, he also didn't want to know, because he didn't want to feel responsible for her worrying.

"I think the Sisterhood would forgive me, considering I'm doing it for Donna's benefit."

"What did she say?" Josh finally asked, beginning to think that Donna was really worried.  He'd gotten pretty angry at lunch, pissed about the fact that he hadn't been able to see that ketchup was oozing from his burger, resulting in him having to change his shirt and Donna had told him to calm down, but he hadn't thought she'd been that worried.

"She thinks you haven't gotten used to this yet, that the full shock hasn't set in."

"I'm fine."

"That's why you snapped at me a few minutes ago, is it?"

"Like I said, I'm just tired.  Really, CJ, I'm fine."

"Donna thinks you're pushing yourself too hard."

"What?  I've only had one meeting with non-White House staff all day, how is that pushing myself?  We passed everything else on to other people."

"Yeah, but you've only agreed to do that for today, you have a full schedule for tomorrow."

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"Josh, you need to remember that a full schedule for you also means a full schedule for Donna."

"She can handle it."

"Yes, she can, but worrying about you is not going to make things easy for her.  You should talk to her, tell her what you're thinking, how you're feeling."

"What are you, my therapist?"

"Josh."

"I'm fine, CJ."

CJ's reply was halted on her lips due to the arrival of Toby and Will.

"You can go on in," Charlie told the assembled group.

"How do you do that, Toby?" Josh grumbled.

"Do what?"

"Always manage to arrive at the right time so you don't have to wait around, even when the President is running late."

"I have telepathic powers," Toby deadpanned.

*

"Leo's running a few minutes late as well," the President said as they entered the Oval Office.  "Josh, how has today been?"

"It was okay, Sir," he replied as CJ led him to the couch and they sat down.

"Press hounding you?"

"A little, but CJ seems to have them under control," he smiled.

"I told them I'd put certain parts of their anatomy into a blender if they didn't leave him alone," CJ told them, much to their amusement and growing fear of her.

"Your meeting went okay this morning, Josh?" the President inquired.

"Yeah, we handled it fine."

"We?  Oh, you and Donna."

"Yes, Sir."

"You're adjusting to your situation okay?"

"I don't really have an option, Sir, but yes, I'm adjusting, thanks to some good friends," he replied, squeezing CJ's hand lightly.

"You made the right decision in continuing to work then?"

"I never considered not working, Sir."

"I know," the President assured quietly.  "Donna handling the extra workload alright?"

"For the moment, yes, but it's only the first day," he replied, remembering CJ's words.

"Tell her that Debbie's sorting out an assistant for her."

"I will, Sir, thanks."

"Sorry I'm late, Mr President," Leo said as he finally arrived.

"Let's get started," the President stated as Leo seated himself in the remaining armchair.

*

"Before you all disappear, remember you need to be in the Roosevelt Room at 7:30 tomorrow morning to get your Big Block Of Cheese Day assignments."

"Ha, enjoy yourselves," Josh grinned.

"You'll be there as well, Josh," CJ pointed out.

"No, I won't be."

"Why not?" Leo asked.

"Well, there's no point in me going to the assignment meeting when I'm not going to be getting an assignment."

"What makes you think you're not getting an assignment?"

"Well, you didn't think I should be here in the first place, so I hardly think you're going to expect me to take a Cheese Day meeting," he replied somewhat testily.

"Well, that's where you're wrong, Josh," Leo stated.  "As you proved this morning, you're able to handle meetings effectively, so you're taking an assignment tomorrow."

"Leo," Josh complained, while trying to hide a smug grin at the fact that Leo had just inadvertently admitted he had been wrong about wanting Josh take time off.

"Josh, you're taking one, everyone is."

"Don't you think I'm suffering enough already?" Josh tried, but instantly knew he'd gone too far.  "Look, Donna's gonna have to be at the meeting anyway, so she can just take it on her own," he suggested.

"Donna has her own meeting to take."

"She won't mind another one."

"You can take the meeting on your own, Josh."

"I can't.  I can't take notes," Josh explained.

"I wouldn't expect you to be taking notes anyway, Josh; I know you've never taken any of the Cheese Day meetings seriously enough to take notes before now, so I didn't expect tomorrow to be any different."

"Leo, --"

"You're doing it, Josh."

"Fine," Josh agreed with extreme reluctance.

*

"You're late," Leo stated as Donna and Josh entered the Roosevelt Room.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Josh said.

"You okay?" CJ asked with concern.

"He's fine," Donna assured.  "He was just stalling leaving his apartment, trying to think up excuses to get out of 'Total Crackpot Day', as he insists on calling today."

"What have I told you about that, Josh?" Leo asked pointedly.

"That I've not to say it in public, but I didn't, Donna did," he grinned.

"Margaret, give them their assignments," Leo sighed.

Margaret handed out the sheets of paper and heard numerous groans as people read their names and corresponding meetings on the list.

"Now, before anyone starts, there will be no swapping of assignment this year," Leo warned.

"I never do that anyway," Josh lied.

"Josh, you were the one who started the whole mess last year," Margaret pointed out.

"Me?" he queried innocently.

"Yes, you.  If I recall correctly, you swapped with CJ, then with Donna, then with Sam.  Sam then swapped with CJ.  Only Toby kept his original assignment, but he had Ginger call him after five minutes to tell him the President needed him."

"Right, and there will be none of that this year either," Leo told them.  "No-one is to use the President in their lies."

"That's okay, we'll use Abbey instead," Josh whispered to Donna, prompting her to swat him on the arm.

"You don't even know what your assignment is yet, Josh," she commented.

"What is it?"

"You're meeting with some scientists about increasing funding for UFO research."

"You're kidding me," he groaned.

"No, I'm not."

"Where's Sam when you need him?" he muttered.  "What do you got?"

"It doesn't matter what Donna has, Josh, you're not changing."

"But –"

"Josh."

"Leo, come on –"

"Josh," Donna whispered to him, "Leo has his 'don't push me' look, so shut up."

"You're gonna take my meeting for me, aren't you?" he implored on a whisper.

"No, but I'll come along and help you out," she promised.

"Donna," he whined.

"Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it," he grumbled.

**

TBC…