This Time Around

Author: Kathleen

Characters: The Santos Campaign
Pairing(s): Josh/Donna
Category(s): Romance, Post Season 6
Rating: TEEN
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, but thank God to Aaron Sorkin for creating them. My life would not have been the same without them.
Summary: Josh and Donna post convention, post season 6. Next chapter in the "Song Series".
Spoiler: Just about anything is fair game, but it's nothing that hasn't been written about before!

Author's Notes: This title is courtesy of Hanson – and yes, I realize some of you are snickering at Hanson, but I really like this song. PS – Not into a nice Amy, I recommending skipping the first part of this chapter, or all together, but realize, that this is going to include the election as well. Your choice, just wanted to warn you now since there are a lot of you out there who like an evil Amy!

She watched him, strutting across the room, working every angle and each phone, teaching the newbies exactly how it's done. There's no annoying pacing which, apparently, is a big change. In fact, everyone is convinced that it has to do with her presence. Hell, the first morning, after they had gotten to Columbus for the last push, she had a big basket of muffins delivered to her room, praising her presence. Josh was a little more than jealous.

Leo and Matt had made calls on her behalf at the beginning of the semester, knowing that Josh would be a little more than hard to handle if she wasn't present for the last two weeks. They, along with CJ, had gotten it worked out to where she could get independent study credit for working the last two weeks of the campaign as a volunteer. That's why she was able to be in Detroit today instead of freezing her ass off walking from the townhouse to classes at Georgetown.

Not that she was being treated like a regular volunteer. No one, not even the real volunteers, expected her to make copies, type memos, or get coffee. She was guiding some of the volunteers, sitting in on conference calls with constituents, and even helping with fundraising for the final push to Election Day. Josh had wanted to share a room; Donna had wanted rooms on opposite sides of the hotel so that no one could make any accusations of any kind against her, him, or the campaign. They managed a compromise – rooms with adjoining doors so they could work and eat in one and sleep in the other. Not there was time for anything besides sleeping. Most nights, she was lucky to get him out of his tie before he fell asleep, much less for him to have the energy for anything else.

He looked up at her from the memo he was currently reading and gave her a wink and a smile before turning to take a phone call. She gave him a shy smile and felt herself blush just slightly before returning to her file.

"Hey Donna." She looked up at Adam, one of the volunteers that had been traveling with the campaign.

"Hey Adam."

"You're 3 o'clock is here."

Donna grabbed the schedule that Ronna had given her when she arrived to remind herself who was the 3 o'clock appointment. When Donna found it, she gave a little sigh. This was the appointment she had dressed for this morning. Josh had laughed at her for going through four skirts before deciding on an outfit, but she wanted to be more than prepared.

Donna stood up, smoothed her skirt and ran in hands over her hair. "Thanks Adam".

Donna moved through the desks, yelling out answers to questions that people asked as she walked by. As Donna turned the corner to the waiting area, she stopped short and gave another quick sigh. She then straightened her shoulders and opened the door.

"Amy."

Amy turned from looking out the window and slid her sunglasses up into her hair

"Hey Donna."

Unsure of how to greet Amy, Donna just stood there for a second. If it had been CJ or Zoey or, God, even Joey Lucas, Donna may have hugged them, but this was Amy. Donna just extended her hand. Amy just smiled and shook her hand.

"C'mon. I'll take you back."

Amy walked behind Donna as she walked through the maze of desks and people.

"We've got you a desk in the back. It's not very quiet but you shouldn't get to much residual noise from up front. Josh has a list waiting for you of people he wants you to start with and I'll go get Ned to come back here and walk you through everything else."

Donna stopped by an empty desk at the back of the room. Amy set down her purse and hung her coat over the back of the chair.

"Thanks Donna."

"No problem. There's a soft drink and snack machine back through that door, a great little deli across the street. If you need anything else, just ask. The fax machines are up front, along with the copiers."

Donna was about to turn and walk away when Amy stopped her with a hand on her forearm.

"Donna…"

"Yeah."

She could see the wheels turning in Amy's head, like she was trying to work out exactly how to word what she wanted to say. Donna leaned back against the desk, waiting for her to finish thinking.

"I just… well, I was just wondering how you were doing?"

Donna's eyes got very wide. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I haven't seen you since… well, since before you left for… and I called Liz when I saw the news and… she called when she heard something new. I had an appointment one afternoon and I stopped by your desk to see you, but it was empty… I just was wondering how you are, that's all."

Donna was shocked, to say the very least. Not that her and Amy hadn't been friends, but she just figured Amy merely tolerated her because she worked for Josh. It never occurred to her that Amy might actually wonder about how she was doing.

It took a moment for Donna to recover. "Oh yeah… well, it was hard at first, nightmares and PT and what-not, but it's gotten easier. Some days were harder than others while I worked for Russell, but now that I'm in school I can take my time. I mean, I still set off metal detectors, but I carry a doctor's note in my wallet now, so it's usually not a big deal. Other than that, things are good."

"Well… good then. I was just wondering…"

The women just looked at each other, not real sure where to go next. Finally, Donna cleared her throat and pushed herself off the desk.

"Well, I'm gonna go… If you need anything, I'll be over there, or you can just grab someone. If you see someone just standing around, feel free to put them to work. I mean, it's usually Josh, but you know…"

That made Amy laugh and Donna was glad for that. The awkwardness that was there just a moment ago seemed to disappear when she laughed.

Donna got about three steps away before she turned and extended an even longer olive branch.

"Hey Amy…"

Amy looked up for her open binder. "Yeah?"

"Look… ummm… I think Josh and I are going to get sandwiches from the deli across the street later if you… well, if you want to eat with us…"

Amy gave her a slight smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, sure then."

"Good. Well, I'm gonna go…"

Amy just shook her head and sat down at the desk to get to work. She was going to be helping with fundraising and with ads for the key swing states for the last week and a half. Josh hadn't even realized that Amy had joined the consulting firm when the DNC recommended them for the last push leading up to Election Day.

Donna made her way back to her desk and resumed reading her file when Josh slid up next to her desk. She looked up right into the famous Lyman smirk.

"Oh what are you smirking at now?"

"So, did she try to suck out your soul?"

"Oh just shut up."

"See, I told you, nothing to worry about, but you got yourself all in a twit this morning. I mean, did she even notice your skirt?"

"NOOOO!" hoping the sarcasm wasn't lost on him. It wasn't.

"Well, OK, then, but next time, will you just…"

"Oh god! Don't you have, oh, I don't know, an election to win or something?"

He smiled down at her and planted a kiss on the top of her head before moving back to his original position.

Amy watched them from across the room and just smiled at the interaction she had just witness. "It's about damn time, there, Lyman" she whispered under her breath.

"Ms. Gardner?"

She turned and looked up at a young man with brown hair.

"You must be Ned."

"Yeah. You alright? You were just talking to yourself there."

"Yeah, you'll get used to that."

"Well, alright then."

Ned pulled up a chair next to Amy's desk and they got to work.

The last two weeks flew by. The polls were close, swinging a different way with every change in the news cycle. The analysts on the news shows were split, not being real sure who was going to win, but Amy, being the betting woman that she is, knew that Santos was going to win.

The campaign arrived in Houston Monday night. The Santos' went home while the rest of the camp went to hotel. The President had had every intention of coming out, but had a slight attack late the week before, so the First Lady and his doctor decided it would be best if he stayed in Washington. The President had tried to convince Russell to attend in his place, but, for very obvious reasons, the Vice-President wanted nothing to do with a Santos victory party, if that's the way the election went. So, Monday night had Toby, Charlie and Zoey walking into the hotel where the rest of the Santos campaign was staying. They checked into their rooms and decided to get drinks at the bar. All three of them stopped short at the entrance when they saw the scene at the back of the bar. There sat part of the Santos staff, but the most interesting was the three core people who had the attention of the rest of the group.

Josh sat along the back wall, a beer in one hand. The other arm was wrapped around the shoulder of Donna Moss, who had molded herself to his side. Granted, the remaining Bartlet staff had not been witness to many of the current Josh-and-Donna actions, but what surprised them more than that was the woman around the corner of the table, who Josh was currently having a fight with.

"Amy…"

"Josh, if you would just let me…"

"No, you know what, I don't think I will."

"All I was saying was…"

"You're certifiable?"

"No, that's NOT what I was saying Lyman. If you would let me finish my previous thought…"

"I've already told you my position on that Amy, and my position would be no."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Way to defend your position, there Gardner!"

That had the table cracking up. Zoey looked at the other two men and just shook her head.

"What in the world…"

"Why is Amy with them?" Charlie inquired.

Toby sidled up the bar and ordered a whiskey. "She must be the operative that the DNC hired to work the campaign for the last few weeks."

Charlie leaned up against the bar and looked at the group again. "Well, now it makes me wonder…"

"What?" Zoey inquired.

"Well… if… ok, if Josh and Donna had been allowed to be Josh and Donna all along, if things wouldn't have been so contentious with Josh and Amy or Donna and Amy or…"

"Yeah" Toby said as he downed his shot.

Zoey looked at the couple and smiled. "Well, then, it looks like they are all going to do things right this time around."

Charlie was about to order him and Zoey a drink when they heard a squeal from behind them. By the time the three of them had turned toward the noise, Donna was already heading for them and Josh was rearranging chairs so they could join the group.

Donna grabbed Zoey and gave her a huge hug. "When did you all get here?"

Zoey returned the hug. "We just dropped our stuff off in our rooms and came down here for a drink."

"Well, c'mon over!"

The three of them followed Donna over to the group, where they were instantly sucked into the debate.

"Toby, help me out here" Amy asked as Toby sat down.

"No, Amy, discussion is over. You lost, I won and all is right in the world."

"Jackass!"

"Sweet talk will get you nowhere with me, Gardner!"

Josh smiled at the group as Amy beat her head on the table top. When he got to Charlie, he noticed the perplexed look on his face.

"What's up my good man?"

"Seriously, Josh, don't call me that again."

"OK, well, you just look confused…"

"I'm trying to figure out what you are doing here."

"Here in Houston? Well, rumor has is that the Democratic nominee for President is from Houston and since I'm such a groupie and all I thought I would come down here to see if I could catch a glimpse of…"

"Yeah, thanks for that. No, I meant here in the bar. I figured you would be working the phones all night!"

"Well, Charlie, if you are ever going to make it in politics, there is one simple rule you need to remember. People don't like being woken up in the middle of the night and since it's after 12 here, that means it's getting late on the west coast and is very late on the East Coast. Not much I can do for the next few hours."

Charlie just stared at this man, this man who would have tried to wake the dead if he thought he could get their vote.

"Well, alright then…"

Zoey took a sip of her drink and turned to Amy. "So, Amy, what were you all talking about when we came in?"

The whole table groaned as Amy picked her head up off the table.

"Well, you see, Zoey, there is this new legislation that is being pushed through the house…"

"CRAP!"

"Knock it off, Josh!"

And they were off again.

It had been an exciting election day. All the pundits and analysts could do now was wait and see who America would choose. The Santos camp pulled out all the stops, getting on every show they could talk their way on. Helen did a live feed for The View, Matt fed into all the morning shows, and Leo spent three hours on NPR.

By 7:00, all they could do was wait. They had all assembled in a large conference room in the hotel, waiting for the results. Amy and Donna were making some last minute calls to the west coast, where polling would go on for another hour or so.

Josh had started pacing and yelling again, but Donna assured everyone that there was absolutely nothing she could do about this today and they were all just going to have to live with it.

It was about 9:00 when Ronna noticed Brian Williams.

"EVERYONE BE QUIET!"

Everyone turned toward the television and held their breath.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's been a very exciting day, but with the polls just having closed on the West Coast, it looks like California has fallen into the Santos column, giving him enough electoral votes to be announced the winner. Matthew Santos…."

Everyone started yelling at once. People were crying and laughing. Matt looked stunned, like he couldn't believe he had pulled it off, that they had pulled it off.

Helen came to her husband's side and buried her head in his shoulder.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" he said.

She just laughed and pulled back. "I have no idea, but we can figure that out tomorrow!"

Josh shook hands and accepted hugs as he made his way through the room, looking for Donna. He came across her as she was getting a hug from Jamie, one of the interns. He tapped Donna on the shoulder and she turned around, expecting another random face. When she saw it was him, she broke out into a huge smile and launched herself at him.

"You did it, Joshua!"

"I couldn't have last through the last few months without you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, that's the rumor."

He pulled back to look at her. He tucked her hair behind her ears and wrapped his arms back around her waist. She just smiled at him and, instantly, a decision was made. It had been in the back of brain for awhile, but now, it was the most important thing in his head.

"Let's get married."

The smile slid off her face as her mouth hung open and her eyes got very wide.

"What?"

"Let's get married."

Slowly, the smile started to return. "Really?"

"Absolutely. Donnatella, you've been my rock well, basically forever. I don't want you to move out next semester. This time around, I want to do with you by my side, as my partner, someone I can share all the ups and downs with. Stay, finish school, and marry me."

"Yeah…"

He broke into a huge smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I don't want to go anywhere either. Yeah, let's get married."

"Well, alright then." And with that, he gave her a rather steamy kiss.

She broke the kiss and rested her head against his.

"When?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, probably not."

"OK… the day after that?"

"How about after I finish school?"

"Right after?"

"Right after."

"I can deal with that!"

He was about to lean in for another kiss when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see Matt and Helen Santos.

"Sir…"

"What in the world have you gotten me into Lyman?"

Donna giggled. This was the first time she had seen Matt Santos anywhere near nervous.

"Sir, we'll figure that out later. Right now, you've got a speech to give to America."

One of the speechwriters came up behind him and gave him the final draft of his acceptance speech. Matt shook his head and intertwined his fingers with his wife's and made his way toward the door. As he started walking, the room started to applaud.

When Matt got to the front of the group, he held up his hand.

"I just wanted to say a quick thanks before heading out. You all have been invaluable to this campaign and none of that will be forgotten. Alright, well, looks like a country needs to be run and, this time, I'm the guy they want to do the running!"

Matt and Helen headed toward the stage, followed by Josh and Donna and the rest of the campaign.

As they got backstage, Josh escorted Matt to the entrance to the stage. Zoey Bartlet was finishing up the introduction of Matt and Leo to the country. Matt stopped quickly and turned toward Josh.

"I just wanted to go ahead and say thanks, now, Josh, cause I don't know how much longer I'll be thinking I'm thankful for what you just did."

"I completely understand Sir." Matt nodded his headed and went out on the stage with Leo as Josh joined in the applause.

TBC…..