Author's note: Ok this is the chapter Josh learns the truth! What I like about this chapter is how the mood and tone changes in an instant. There are TONS of flashbacks in the chapter and you should get the complete picture of what happened to Donna. You might want to go back and reread some of the other chapters, because this one ties them all together. There is one final chapter after this one and timeline chapter. I'll tell you the final line in the last flashback makes me pump my fist in the air and yell, "hell yeah!" But that's me being a dork. I hope you enjoy.

Thank you for all the feedback.

For a year now she had been helping CJ in the press room. When she took the podium she was surprisingly calm. CJ and Ainsley rehearsed with a brunette Donna, every aspect of the press conference. It would start off with a simple statement, "Hello, My name is Donna Moss" and ended with "I am not a victim, but no one is above the law, not even the President. I call out to the other women. I'll give them a voice and let them know they are not alone."

Donna's POV

We stayed in bed until it was time to get dressed for dinner, when I forced Josh to go back to his room to get changed. I finish zipping up my dress. I have to wait until he's gone, otherwise he would try to pull it back down. I pull my hair up, then down, trying to pick the best option. I put some cover up on the scar on my forehead.

He walks into the room (I gave him my key) with a sly smile on his face. "Donna, you're wearing an off-white dress."

I look down and double check, "Um Josh, this is a light pink dress."

He takes a few steps closer to me, "That's a shade of off-white."

"No, it's a shade of red."

He wiggles his eyebrows. I know I'm in for something now. He pulls flowers from behind his back. "I've got flowers."

"Did you steal them?"

"Nope. I bought them and I solved the problem about our mothers." He opens his pocket and flashes his cell phone in my face. "We can call them; they can listen to the whole thing."

Oh my God, he's not kidding. He wants to marry me. Me. I thought he was joking, he was joking right? I laugh it off, "you're such a dork."

"Nope, I'm adorable and charming."

"You're joking right?"

He places his hand to his chest and acts surprised, "Donna, I never joke about being adorable and charming."

"JOSH! I mean about proposing!"

He smirks and leans in a little, putting his arms around my waist. "What do you think?"

"I'm really not sure what to think."

He frowns a little, "Does this mean you're not going to marry me tonight?"

An odd pang of disappointment hits me. "Not tonight."

He beams and kisses me sweetly, "I guess I'll have to ask you in the morning." He breaks his stance and tells me to turn around. I watch his reflection in the mirror as he digs through his jacket until he produces whatever he was looking for. A black velvet box. My stomach does flips; fire burns my back and cheeks instantly. He opens the box. It's a diamond pendent necklace, not too big or small, in a word, perfect. I say his name and he starts to shake a little. What do you know? The Great Josh Lyman gets nervous. His voice falters ever so slightly, "Don't say it's too much or you can't accept it. Please just wear it tonight. If you don't like you can sell in when we get back to DC and give the money to charity." Well, what could I say?

I touch the necklace; honestly it's the nicest gift anyone's ever given to me, "Josh, will you put it on me?" He smiles brightly, grateful he wasn't rejected. We kiss deeply, joyful to share in each other presence.

As always a knock at the door disrupts us. Sam and Jackson are waiting for us to get to dinner.

I look at Jackson for second, "I want to get my picture taken, ok?"

He shrugs, "Sure."

"You understand I want my picture taken with Josh, right?"

Jackson rolls his eyes, "Donna I'm a very clever man, I figured that out on my own." I smile at him and take Josh's arm. Josh nods with approval.

Two weeks came and went; none of the other women left their caves and Donna stood alone to face the hate mail, slurs, and media backlash. Every day Donna walked out of her apartment to face reporters, lights, microphones and questions. The mob was growing like bacteria, but there was a virus looming closer. The protesters, people who supported the President because he was a symbol, screamed at her as she approached her car. On this day, one would call her a whore; not unusual. On this day, someone threw a rock at her; very unusual. She didn't see the rock; she only felt the blinding pain and something wet on her face.

Looking back, it wasn't the impact the rock made on Donna's forehead that changed the country. It was the fact that she got into her car and drove to work. The image of Donna Moss leaving in her ten-year-old car covered in blood as she approached her office, would be splattered on the front page of every news based web page, morning newscasts and late edition of newspaper in America.

Sam's POV

They look good together, they seem to fit. There's a rhythm their bodies fall into as they walk; banter as they talk. The sort of thing that would take normal people years to master, Josh and Donna perfected in three days. On a cruise ship every five feet people harassed you to get your picture taken. They find the background they want and stand together, intertwined. He pushes the hair from her face, she adjusts his tie. He leans in and whispers something in her ear, she giggles and blushes. The light flashes. Here it is, the photographic evidence they met. Anyone who bothered to look at the picture could tell they were sleeping together. It's a career ending photograph and neither of them have looked happier.

Donna forces Jackson to eat dinner with all of us. On one side of the table it's Jackson, Toby and I. Across from Jackson is CJ. Josh is sitting between CJ and Donna so people think that he's a super stud. Or something to that effect. Donna's eyes gaze at mine, informing me what I already know. She hasn't told him yet.

Josh's body language has changed in the last few days. He's smiling a lot more, in fact I don't think I've ever seen him smile this much. Donna, for that matter, either. I inspect as Donna steals lettuce off of his plate. I scrutinize the way he keeps his hand on her back when he's not eating.

She's tense though, trying to relax when she knows the end is near. The final cigarette before facing the firing squad. And I'm the one who's going to pull the trigger.

Shit.

I kick her leg under the table, while Josh and Toby argue about some foreign aid Bill.

Donna and I have always been able to communicate without speaking. My eyes read her and tell her, "You don't have to tell him."

She blinks and her lips curl a little, relief washes over her, "Really?"

I nod, "We'll both tell him when we get back to DC. You don't need to do this alone."

She bites her lower lip and blinks back a tear, "thank you, Sam."

Josh's voice cuts through the serenity of the moment. "Toby, you asked Andy to marry you on the first date?"

"No, I told her she might as well stop putting up a fight, because she knew she was going to marry me."

Josh rubs Donna back and mutters quietly, "See the first date, that's were I went wrong."

WHAT?

"You don't have that Toby Zeigler charm." She sips her wine.

Toby claps his hands and points to her, "See, that's why you're my favorite, Donna."

Josh shrugs, "Well I guess that's better than walking into the living room and throwing her a ring box stating, "Well, I guess you've been with me long enough."" He eyes me up. Ok, fine. I didn't propose to Lisa like I should have, but still.

I laugh back, "It still better than hiding the ring somewhere and when Amy found it, bellow, "Oh shit!'"

Josh raises one eye brow, "So we're playing this game are we?"

"I think we are." I match his expression

"Game on." The rules of the game: Embarrasses him until he's left speechless.

For two people as over protective as we are, you would think we wouldn't be up for this sort of game. But hey, what are brothers for?

Josh starts round one "So Sam how many times did you fall off your boat?"

"Seven times. Hey Donna, did you know Josh came back to the States because of a snake." She nods and I continue, "I bet he told you it was common brown, but it wasn't. It was a garter snake." Donna looks at him and starts to giggle; little does she know she's going to be the key to my victory.

"Hey Toby, did you know Sam slept with a call girl, but its ok, because he didn't know she was one at the time."

Toby smirks, "Way to go, Boy Scout!"

"Going there are we?" My lips start to curl.

"I'm already there." Josh laughs.

"Fine, do you guys know the real reason Amy dumped him?" Josh's eye grow slightly wide, "It because he called Amy the wrong name in bed."

Jackson looks like he just won the jackpot, "whose name?"

I shake my head, "Nope, that would be telling and I'm not as rude as Josh." Besides this is a delicate line I'm playing on and Josh would kill me with his bare hands if I announced to the table it was Donna's name he said.

CJ's eyes grew wide, "That's too funny; that's the reason why Cliff dumped…"

"CJ think of the Sisterhood." Donna glares at her friend. "Besides, it's more fun if they battle it out themselves." She waves to Josh and me.

Josh takes sip of his water and a devilish smiles crawls across his face, "Lisa, Sam's ex, was caught giving some other guy a blow job in the coat room at Sam's birthday party. The only reason why he didn't dump her was because he didn't feel like moving out of his "kick ass" apartment"

Ok, here's the deal with this one. It was fair game because we've been laughing about it for a few months now; otherwise he would have pushed me too far. He's actually holding back. He hasn't attacked Ainsley. Yet. Time to strike.

"Hey Josh, do you still not use plates when you're eating your pop tarts?"

He squints at me for a second, "no, why?"

"Because I've had sex on every surface in your house." His eyes grew wide, and his fork has stopped its trek to his mouth, which is slightly agape. To fully appreciate this, you have to know Ainsley and I lived in Josh's house for nearly a year and a half while he was traveling around the world. I first kissed Ainsley in the hallway between the master bedroom and the guest room.

"What?" His voice hoarse.

I sip my wine, "Yep, your counters, dryer, couch, against your refrigerator, both beds. Your kitchen table, tons of times there really." My lips curl slightly recalling the times on the kitchen table. Ainsley has a very healthy appetite for food, even more so for me. Once Ainsley and I confessed our feelings, we haven't spent more one night apart. Three nights are killing me.

Josh dropped his fork, "Great! Now I have to move!"

Toby and Jackson's laughter fill the room. But it's Donna who catches my eye. There's an impish smile, like she knows a secret and she's about to tell the world.

She does. "You know Josh, it true Sam has had sex on very surface of your home, or at least has tried to." Oh Shit! "Did he tell you about the time he tried to mount Ainsley in the shower and instead fell out and took the shower curtain with him? You know he spent three months trying to find an exact match, so you would never know." She cocks one eyebrow at me.

Suddenly it's hard to breathe, "Donna, how do you know that?"

"It's a Sisterhood, Sam."

Toby's laughing so hard he's about to spill his beer. CJ eyes him up, "What are you laughing at Snuggle Bunny?"

Toby freezes. "What did you call me?"

CJ leans in, "I've been sitting on that gem for quite some time, Snuggle Bunny."

Toby's eyes grow wide and suddenly he's quiet. Toby Ziegler, a snuggler, huh? Very interesting. Although, the knowledge that Donna and CJ know intimate details about my relationship with Ainsley is a little disconcerting.

Jackson starts to speak but Josh cuts him off, "Sam, there's weird stains all over my house. Pleas, please tell me it's the animals and not you."

I shift uncomfortably for a second, "It depends on where the stains are."

"Dear God, man, what's the matter with you?" He can't look at me for a second.

"You went all in on a pair of two's I don't want to hear it!" I yell at him.

"You do realize you're buying me a new kitchen table right?"

With that everyone at the table, including Josh is laughing. We're so consumed in the moment I didn't even notice the man approach the table. He was gruff but well put together, older with graying hair.

"Excuse me." He interrupts.

CJ wipes the tears for her face and smiles at him, "Oh, I'm sorry are we being too loud?"

His voice like ice, "Yes, you were, but that's not why I came over here. My wife and I are having a disagreement, are you CJ Cregg?"

She eyes him up, 'Yes I am." Smiles slowly fade away.

He nods and looks at the rest of the table, "You're Toby Ziegler, and Sam Seaborn, I recognize you from TV." He pauses for a second, "You know President Hoynes was a great man."

I look over at Donna, who hasn't moved, before saying, "You know, we've all met him and he's kinda a dick."

The man recoils and aims at Josh, "Do you believe that Mr. Lyman, you're friend here is calling the man you got elected twice a 'dick.'"

Josh shrugs, "Sam calls them like he sees them. Is there anything else we can do for you? Because I would like to get back to my meal."

The man glared down at Josh, "I just don't understand how you can eat with these people. They ruined a good man's life."

"Are you kidding, sir, I'm going to buy them dinner. As for Hoynes being a good man, well history will judge him very differently."

The man's focus turned to Donna. She shrinks back a little under his glare. Toby broke the silence, "Mister, you're gonna to want to walk away now." But Toby's warning went unheard.

The man growled, "You're Donna Moss. Yeah, you dyed you're hair blonde, back to its original color. It seems fitting. Blond bombshell and all." He leaned in closer, "You probably begged him for it, "Oh Mr. President, Touch me! Fuck me!" You were probably distraught when he turned a whore like you down. Here I've got something for you."

He didn't give her anything. Jefferson launched the stranger's body away from Donna. Jackson jumped up from table and lead Donna and CJ away calling into his headset, "Maple Leaf and Flamingo are on the move." It wasn't until Donna was safely out of the way when Jefferson started to apply pressure to the man's arm. I couldn't see Jefferson's face, just the agonizing pain on the stranger's face.

Then I heard it, a noise, I heard it once as a child when I feel off my bike. It was worse then any pain I have ever felt, because the noise haunted me at night. It was the distant sound of bone splintering and shattering.

The man screamed and water, tears and sweat, drenched his face. Jefferson cuffed the man and searched his pockets. A knife. Now I saw the agent's face: Rage. "We all have our favorites to protect. Simon's is CJ. Gina's is Zoey. Mine's Donna and may God help you if she's crying right now."

Jefferson dragged the man away, mentioning something about a brig as he talked into the other agents. I don't know if Donna's sitting in her room sobbing right now, but I do know Jefferson slammed the man's head against the wall as they were leaving the restaurant.

The other patrons stared at us. Toby threw his fork down on to the plate. "Great, now I'm going to be in a shitty mood for the rest of the night."

Toby pouted. I looked across the table to my best friend, my brother. He was pale, horrified and sweating. "It was Donna?" He said not believing the words as he spoke.

Toby looked up, forgetting for a second that Josh didn't know. Josh hadn't live with this every day for the past two years. Toby nodded, but didn't speak. Josh looked at me betrayed, and bolted out of the restaurant.

He wouldn't go to her. Josh was very predictable like that. He didn't have the skills needed to comfort a woman; it went tenfold when he didn't fully understand the situation. He was hurt, he needed facts.

Toby and I sat still for a moment, slowly the mummers from the other guests started to pick up.

Two days after the rock crushed Donna, Hoynes paced back and forth, "Can we be linked to the guy who threw the rock?"

Lucas Hill, Communication Director, swallowed and shifted in his shoes, "um, my wife has a lot of brothers and, um…"

Hoynes hissed, "HE'S YOUR BROTHER IN LAW!"

Lucas nodded.

Chipper's eyes moved around the room, "four other women have come out claiming you slept with them."

"Did I?"

Chipper didn't answer.

"Shit!"

"The media's backing Donna Moss. She had celebrity support from Julia Roberts, Madonna, Brad Pitt, the entire cast of Friends and the news hasn't hit the West Coast yet."

"What the hell do I care if pampered celebrities like me or not?"

"Because they are on the morning news shows not plugging their shows, but supporting Donna Moss. Public opinion will change. She'll be the new golden child."

"Oppositional Research?" Hoynes asked hopefully.

"She's already released her private demons, which happens to be several parking tickets and a divorce. She's a girl scout, clean and immaculate until she met you." But the last part was uttered under the Press Secretary's voice.

Hoynes paced, "what can we do?"

"Cut a deal, it the only option." Chipper suggested.

Toby POV

Sam found Josh where he said Josh would be, at the internet searching for facts. The truth. He sure as hell couldn't believe us any more. I stood in the doorway, as Sam took the seat next to him. Softly Sam suggested Josh only read what Danny Concannon wrote, it was the most fair and balanced. Danny was our friend and openly supported Josh while the rest of the White House Press Corp killed his career. Danny was also the only one Donna would talk with.

Shit! He found the picture. Donna's bleeding from the head, eyes glazed over, blood soaked her clothes acting like a glue to her hair and it adheres itself to her face. Her brown hair just makes her skin look that much paler. White. Or maybe it's the crimson, I don't know but I've never liked this picture. She's stumbling a little, it makes her look weak. Josh reaches out and touches the screen, but doesn't speak. The computer flashes a warning message, his time is about to run out and would he like to buy more internet time. He almost clicks yes, when Sam stops him.

"Come on we'll go outside and talk."

Josh shakes a little as he stands. Sam leads, Josh and I follow to the deck. Josh leans his weight against the railings. He starts to speak and stops. On his fourth attempt he succeeds, "It was Donna." Now he seems a little more confident in his answer.

Sam speaks softly, "Yes. It was." Josh scratches at his hair, staring at his feet until he finally looks at Sam, eyes blazing.

"I understand why she didn't tell me, but why the hell didn't you?"

"I asked you several times if you wanted to know, but you seemed quite content thinking it was CJ."

Josh groans as if his organs are being liquefied. "I never WANTED it to be CJ, I just assumed it was." Quietly he mumbles, "Anyone else but Donna."

I finally ask him the question that's been bugging me since I got on to this ship, "Josh, why did you assume it was CJ?"

He looks up at me wild eyed, "She was on his schedule."

I shake my head, "No I was on Hoynes' schedule."

"Only because I took CJ off! Didn't it strike you as odd that none of the women in your office could get a meeting with him? But you, Leo and the VP could waltz in at any time? I assumed CJ went behind my back and took the meeting anyway."

I swallow, "I was going to give it to CJ, but that was the night Danny proposed. Andy had the flu and the kids needed dinner so I sent Donna instead."

Josh rushes towards me, fists in the air. Jackson is the one who holds him back. Where Jackson and Jefferson came from, I still have no clue. Josh screeches at me, "How could you put her near that fucking monster. What the fuck were you thinking?"

"Fuck you, Josh. Don't you think, don't you think there isn't a day that goes by that I don't blame myself?"

He stares at me hard, eyes unweaving, "It couldn't have been you're fault; it was mine."

Sam rubs his head, "Josh, nothing about this was your fault. You don't need to blame yourself for everything."

Josh breaks from Jackson's hold and turns to Sam, "Of course it's my fault. Why else would I have tried so hard to keep her safe? Sam, he knew!"

What did Hoynes know?

"Josh, he didn't know. He didn't do this to set you up."

Josh doesn't believe him and looks away at Jackson and laughs a little, "God it's so obvious now, you were the agent that punched Hoynes."

Jackson says nothing, but Jefferson speaks, "No, I was me."

Josh turns and walks back towards the railing, casting his eyes over the sea, "I don't understand any of this. Tell me the order of events. I need to understand that."

All of us exchange glances unsure if we really want to tell him. But Jefferson, being young and brazen, recounts the tale. "It started five years ago, after the shooting." Josh raises one confused eyebrow; he apparently didn't expect the story to be this long. Hell, honestly there are a few holes in the story even I'm shady about.

Jefferson continues with a steady voice, "None of the Secret Service had paid much attention to Donna prior to the shooting but afterwards, well we noticed some things. She received a lot of attention from senators, congressmen, various aids and lawyers, and most of them were men. CJ had Danny, Zoey had Charlie, Jenny had Leo, Andy had Toby, everyone was paired off expect for her. There was no free guy to lay claim to her, to protect her from the others. For a lack of better terms, no one to cock block her. So we stepped in and gave her a panic button, just in case something ever happened, and like all panic buttons we prayed she'd never have to use it."

Jefferson stops talking and shutters for a second. "CJ left to have dinner with Danny; Toby was rushing out the door to get home to his wife and kids, leaving Donna alone. Jackson and I always walk her to her car, over the years it just became habit. So when she bounced in excited that she was finally going to have a meeting with the President alone, we hung around the office. About five minutes after she left I started to get antsy. I had seen what Hoynes had done to women before."

He stops and collects himself. "We were already walking towards the oval when the alarm went off. I remember sprinting and barreling through the other agents. When I got through the door…" He stops and closes his eyes "He was on… I pulled him off of her and threw him to the floor. Jackson tells me he carried Donna out. I don't know. I didn't see it. I got three punches in before the four agents pulled me off of him. Jackson and I took her to the hospital, when I got home Butterfeild was waiting for me. I handed in my forced resignation in the next morning. I can't tell you what happened from this point in the story, because I spend most of it on my couch and with my girlfriend."

Sam fills in the rest of the blanks. "The next morning when Toby found out, he went to confront Hoynes. You've heard the tape, you know what it says. It took Donna a month to finally act. When she did, she contacted Ainsley and me. We planned for another month before she went public. She waited three hours before Hoynes's staff was going to announce a big win, the Firearms Bill. However, it took a few more weeks for any one to believe her story. It wasn't until she got hit in the head with the rock she started to gain momentum. The public was outraged, even if she was lying; all she was doing was trying to go to work. She didn't deserve that. Celebrities blamed the blood thirsty press for not helping her. When Julia Roberts goes on "The Today Show" and supports a woman who claimed she was raped by the President, mid-western housewives start to listen. Congress needed public support before they would agree to investigate the President, they wanted to be certain. You understand, Josh."

Josh nodded and Sam continued, "You were away playing tourist while the rest of us fought to demon you unleashed."

Josh sighed, "I don't understand why she waited so long."

In a low, sad voice Sam uttered, "That's something you're going to have to ask her."

Josh finally understood and start to head towards the door. I hate myself for doing this, but he was blindsided too much today. I need to prepare him. "You know, you can't continue your relationship with her when you get off the ship. It'll look like we planned this from the beginning, like we took down the president to put the Vice President and the Santos in the office."

His knuckles go white, "What?"

"Josh, really you didn't think…" Sam starts and ends.

His tone is harsh and worn, "I've spend six years away from her, trying to protect her only to fail. Hoynes has cost me my career, dignity and family. I will NOT let him dictate this part of my life too!" Josh steps in closer to Sam; eyes plead with him, softly he whispers, "I think I'm falling in love with her."

Sam studies Josh, and then his eyes move towards me to for support. He places he hand on Josh arm, "I can't tell you what to do, but I just know if you stay with her or if you leave her. Both of you will get hurt."

Now I feel like the biggest asshole in the world, but I say it anyway, "She won't risk that, in the end, she won't pick you." Josh turns on his heels and heads towards the door. Jefferson follows after.

Sam and Jackson stare me down. Sam whispers, "Why did you tell him that?"

"He needed to know."

Jackson questions, "but… what if?"

I sigh and look over the railing, "I'm not the one making the final call now am I?" Something stirs in the water and I huff out a small laugh, "Hey look, dolphins."

One hour later Donna, Leo, Sam, Ainsley, CJ, Toby and the Vice President walked into the oval office. Of course the President was surrounded by his staff and supporters.

The President greeted Donna was a greasy smile, "Miss Moss, you've caused quite a commotion haven't you?"

Donna didn't comment, but gently touched her now bandaged head. Hoynes pulled back and in a sugar sweet voice, "Of course I will be paying for your medical damages, it's the least I can do."

Donna voice was like ice on glass, "yes that is the least you can do. But I am not interested in your money."

Hoynes pointed to the couch, but Donna chose to stand. "Now, Miss Moss, why don't you tell me what you want?"

Donna tapped her finger to her chin, appearing to think it over, "I want to be the Press Secretary to the President of the United States."

Hoynes threw his head back and laughed, but Donna stood her ground. "But Miss Moss I already have a Press Secretary."

Donna blinked once and leaned in, "Oh I don't think you understand." She paused for effect. "I want to be President Bartlet's Press Secretary. Not in four years but now."

Leo piped in, "She's saying she doesn't want you to be President any more."

Hoynes breath was caught in his throat. "You don't have any proof."

Toby smirked and press" play" on the voice recorder he had been holding in his pocket. Hoynes' voice filled the room, "Oh I did more than put my fingers on her. And what are you going to do? You're nothing. I am the God Damn President of the United States, you are a fucking speech writer. America elected me for four more years… you can be fired tomorrow. You're got nothing. And her, she's not strong enough to fight me. Weak, like everyone who works for Bartlet." The color drained from the President's face. Many of his staffers needed to sit down, however they found that Ainsley and Sam had taken up quite a bit of room on the couch.

Sam was next to speak, "We really don't need the tape either; women are coming out of the wood works. Yep. Lots of women."

CJ nearly sung, "But it won't be the women that gets you drop kicked out of the Oval, no, it's the girl."

Chipper leaned against the desk as if that was the only thing which could support him.

Ainsley spoke with cool venom to Hoynes, "Do you remember a young red head form Ohio, Emma Casta? You met her at a fund riser, took her into a back room, and well to say the least, you broke the vow to be faithful to your wife. This was not the first time something of this sort of thing would happen. Of course, it was the first time you did it with someone who was under age."

Quietly Lucas asked, "How old was she?"

Donna cold eyes never left the withering man, "15." She studied his horrified reaction. He repeated the age. He was aging before her eyes and she went for the kill. "No, sir, it's about to get a whole a lot worse. See, one of the benefits of being a Democrat is being pro choice and when dear sweet Emma called stating she was two months late, well she had her new "Daddy" Chipper hold her hand, make the appointment and open a trust fund for her."

Hoynes glared at his deputy chief of staff. "Is this true?"

Chipper hissed, "What the hell was I supposed to do? I clean up your messed because Lyman was too good for it."

The Bartlet staff had nearly two hundred names of senators, congressman and party donators who demanded Hoynes resignation.

Lucas spat, "Do you think the country is going to want a President dying of MS!"

Leo spat back, "More than a child molester!"

Hoynes walked his way slowly behind his desk and placed his head on his hands, he might have spoken words, but no one heard.

Jed Bartlet in a calm voice, "This could end right now. You could resign, but we both know you won't do that. You'll demand an investigation by Congress, holding up all bills and policy for the next year and half. You'll hold onto the tiniest glimmer of hope that this will all go away and history won't remember you as the man you really are. Only when you've lost all you staff; (they'll be far more concerned about their own career than you), your creditability, your approval rating would be the lowest in history, and your wife would have left you, will you resign. Only then will I reluctantly take the office." He stopped and looked around before leaning in and whispering, "I think I am going to change the curtains."

Josh's POV

Jefferson and I stand in the elevator; my whole world was flipped upside and inside out in the matter of a few seconds. Hoynes went after Donna because he knew; he knew I cared about her. It had to be, there was no other reason for it. Goddamn hockey puck. I knew I should have taken it home, but no, I had to keep it around as a reminder. A reminder to be good, do good, make the world better for her, so she might be proud of me. Damn it how could I be so stupid. If Hoynes was here…

I look over to Jefferson, "How did it feel to punch him?"

A small smirk crosses his face, "Best punch of my life. You know I was fired for using excessive force."

"Did you?"

"Quite frankly I didn't think I used enough."

I think I might be smiling but I'm not sure. Jefferson speaks again, "I lied earlier when you asked why I'm so loyal to her. It's not for the holiday cookies, which by the way are pretty damn good. No, it because she got me my job back."

"How?" If he punched the President, he should have been in jail.

His smirk grows into a smile, "She won me in a poker game."

If I wasn't so depressed I would laugh. Now it all makes sense. Why she knows so much about poker, why she took my chair at the "Top Secret" game.

I'll give Jefferson this much, he did lift my spirits. He pats me on the back as I knock at Donna's door. CJ opens it, kisses me on the cheek and leaves. Donna's sitting on the bed wearing her "hot chick" pajamas. Her necklace box is open, displaying the diamond. My stomach twists thinking she's not wearing it.

The room is dark; the only light is coming from the bathroom. She's been sitting on the edge of her bed staring at the carpet. "I got a monkey."

"Huh?" I've spent most of the evening confused, but this monkey comment is really out of left field.

"Towel Monkey." She points behind her and hanging from the rafters is in fact a towel monkey. "You don't care do you?"

"Donna."

"Of course you don't. It's stupid." She kicks her feet out, pushing her shoes away with her toes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

I shake my head, "I'm glad you didn't." I wanted to say, I'm glad you didn't because it means everything I feel for you is real. But the second half gets stuck in my throat. A part of me snaps at my own frustration, my inability to say what I want to, the other part is mad she's trying to comfort me.

My eyes start to sting, blinking seems to bring some relief. "Do you have any idea how many hours I spent staring at your phone number? How many times I wanted to call you, pursue something with you? The nights you would creep into my thoughts, stay there, until I slept. How many state dinner would have been bearable if you where there? Can't you understand why I never called? I didn't want you within ten feet of the Oval Office!" I scrub my face, "When I think of all those hours… what I, we could have had… what I gave up. And it was all for nothing. You still got hurt."

For the first time I look at her, pale, soft hair. She looks better as a blonde anyway. Her ocean blue eyes are filling with salt water. I wonder how long she's been crying.

New thoughts creep into my head, inching though my consciousness and into my mouth. "Was I the first, since…?"

She nods not speaking, eyes still transfixed on her shoes.

I scratch the back of my neck, "Did I hurt you?"

She looks up at me for the first time and stands. Her voice quivers, "No, Josh you were prefect. You gave me my life back, you made me feel whole. Desired. You did more for me in three days than two years of therapy." She recoils, admitting more than she wanted to. I take one step closer to her and reach out my arm. I need to touch her, make sure she still real. Maybe it's because she needs the same thing too, that makes her step forward. I reach for her arm, her skin is cool to the touch and she shivers. I pull her closer, rubbing my hands against her arms trying to warm her, attempting to comfort her. Failing at both.

I swallow before asking my final question, she's barely been able to look me in the eyes since I walked in. The tiny tears that streak her face could be mist before a hurricane. In a controlled and soft voice I ask her, "Donna, why did you wait so long to come out?"

Her eyes make their way up my neck, past my lips and seem to focus on my nose. "Because you never treated me like I was just an assistant." I want to tell her it's because she never treated me like I was Chief of Staff, but she interrupts me first. Her eyes finally make the last leap into mine. She takes a deep breath, "Hoynes and his staff were saying such terrible things about you." She pauses one last time, "He made a comment about your sister…"

During the entire mud slinging fiesta there was only one comment Sam prepped me for, only one comment that made my mother sob. Only one comment that crushed me and wounded me and sent me away for an extra six months. It was that comment that made me loath Hoynes and it was that comment which made Sam join the fight on my behalf.

One by one Bartlet's staff turned and left the room until Donna was alone standing on the eagle's seal. She looked down at it, and then back at the President, his eyes still focused on the desk. "There will be a moment when you are broken, beat, and lost. When you will question how you got here? What was the force that made the first domino fall? I will give you one shred of peace." Donna turned on her heels and started out the door. "For the record, "What kind of man misses his father's funeral? The same coward who lets his sister burn to death." That was the moment I decided to kick your ass."

Josh POV

There are only three things I know for certain at this moment.

Its three o'clock in the morning. That's what my watch is tells me. Its sort of a magically time, closer to dawn than evening, but still dark, black, three o'clock in the morning is when I do my best thinking, make the best decisions of my life.

I know for certain Donna's sleeping next to me. After she told me why she went face to face with the Devil himself, I kissed her and made love to her. I won't go into any details. Making love is private and personal and no one else needs to know about it but us. I know she's sleeping because her breathing is steady and once in a while her body does that jerk thing it does when it's sleeping.

The final thing I know with certainty I can say aloud because its three o'clock in the morning and Donna's sleeping.

In a voice I can hardly hear myself I say, "Donnatella Moss, I've fallen in love you." And I hope it will be enough to last us through the night.