There was no sleeping now. This was not a good thing, because he knew that once campaign schedule resumed, sleep was not an option. He turned on the TV.

"He seems to be vying for the Latino vote, John, don't you think that's a little-"

He turned the TV off. The very last thing he needed was an earful from the late-night anchors. Not that it was a bad question – Vinick trying for the Latino vote almost made him snicker… almost. He hadn't had the chance to prep Santos on it, nor had he really prepared to do so. Both made his empty stomach feel a bit queasy. Pizza and beer - That was what he needed. There was a great place over by…

He sighed and sat up. There was a great place over by Donna's apartment that had the best - - he immediately stopped his mind from going there and put his face in his hands. This was too much. He was Joshua Lyman – Bartlet's bulldog, graduate of Harvard and Yale, former Deputy Chief of Staff, political pit-bull, and Campaign Manager to the next President of the United States.

Why was he so torn up over a dream? Moreover, why was he so torn up over Donna? A tiny little voice in his head, the very last smidgen of humor he had left at this point in the night, whispered to him – "it's because she's from Wisconsin!" He chuckled at his own hilarity before making a short trip to the kitchen. Thank God he paid the cleaning lady to stock his fridge every two weeks – he actually had something to eat. He bypassed anything green and settled on a nice cornbeef sandwich and a beer. Or two. Or seven. He lost count after awhile.

"Mr. Lyman, its 7:00"

Josh fumbled the phone; he blinked his eyes open and attempted to sit up.

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Lyman, we're taking off in about 30 minutes and the Congressman wishes to express that it is 'with or without you'."

"Yeah, uh – yeah I'm on my way."

He grabbed called a cab, then grabbed his coat, garment-bags, duffle, and backpack and ran out the door. The cab took 7 minutes to get there. He was at the airport in 14. That gave him 9 minutes. He ran – no – he flew towards the appropriate hanger. With 2 minutes to spare, he lobbed himself into the plane, walking immediately to the back.

"Nice of you to join us, Josh."

Congressman Matthew Santos looked completely and thoroughly amused. This was the first time Josh had ever been late to a campaign event. Leo chuckled. It was already rare that they be in a room together – now they had an entire day of meetings and events - all three of them.

"Long night, Joshua?"

"You're telling me."

"No, I'm asking you."

Josh shrank into his seat, scratching his head and realizing that he was still wearing yesterday's suit. The congressman and Leo crowded around him like schoolgirls.

"We've got 25 minutes before our first meeting, and if you think you're going to walk onto my plane hung over and dirty, you are sadly mistaken."

"Mr. Congressman, with all due respect, I just had a bad night and would rather forget about it."

"And we are not about to let that happen." Leo smiled - he was in a very good mood. "We thought you might have gotten into a bar fight, or maybe had some wild romantic encounter"

The congressman fidgeted, glancing past his two colleagues. "Speaking of which, I need to go consult with my wife."

Josh leaned back and closed his eyes.

"What's up?"

"I told you guys, I had a bad night."

"Looks like it."

"Everybody has bad nights, Leo. I had a bad dr-" he cut himself off, changing direction. "Drinking experience. I had a little much."

His head throbbed with fact that he had a "sensitive system". Thinking of the quote made the throbbing unbearable.

"You're not usually the drinking-alone type, Joshua."

"Special occasion, I guess."

The older man turned to look out the window as the plane began to move.

"You did what you had to do. Press would have had a field day. She'll bounce back real quick. They'll be Senators, Congressman, Governors – maybe we can do something for her later on."

"Yeah."

"She's a big girl, Josh. She's got talent and experience. She can handle herself."

He sighed, wrinkling up his face with a frown. "It's just that - I think -"

"Yeah. Well, you'll have to deal with that too. But not now. Maybe call her later on today, but we need to step things up."

"Yeah. Game on, I know," he paused, "I had a dream last night, Leo."

"How did that go for you?"

His eyes closed again and his lips curved upward. "Reconciliation, among other things."

"Save it."

"Yeah. Lets do this."

------

AUTHORS NOTE:

Well hello, guys. If you haven't already noticed, the title from this story, as well as all the chapter titles, are going to be borrowed from a lovely episode entitled "Evidence of Things Not Seen".