Moving On
Nancy gives her decision, meanwhile, Josh thought he'd hired Lou & Donna, but they have other ideas.
Josh, Matt, Donna, Lou ... a little J/D
Spoilers through season 7
Chapter 3 -- Staffing Issues
Wednesday 16th November
"You're not serious?" Josh asked.
"Yes," Lou replied.
"You're leaving?"
"You always knew that. I work on campaigns, Josh, not in government."
"So maybe you need a change."
"I really don't."
"Ah come on," Josh whined. "You've been telling me to get my head back here, that he needs me, and now you're telling me that you're leaving."
"He does need you. You got him here, you can't just abandon him now."
"But you can."
"I work for the DNC, I was never on your staff," Lou pointed out.
Josh sighed, "I'm not sure we can do this, in fact I'm damn sure we can't do this, with just me and Donna the only ones with any experience."
"None of you had any experience eight years ago, you got through it."
"We had Leo," Josh replied.
"And they've got you."
"Yes, and aren't they lucky. I need you," Josh admitted and then smiled, "and do you have any idea how much that hurts?"
"I do," Lou smiled.
"So?"
"God, Josh!" Lou sighed. "I can give you a few more months, no more. And you have to understand, it'll be no longer than that. By March I have to be out of here."
"Hey, at the moment I'll take anything I'm offered. Seriously, Lou, I'm drowning here."
"Yes I know. And six months ago that would have been fun to watch, but now, and I don't know what's happened to me, but I find I want to help you."
"I grow in people. A little like mold," Josh replied with a small smile.
"Who else do you have to badger?"
"Joey and Annabeth. Plus I have to find a role for Ned Carlson."
"We fired him."
"He was sent back to the congressional office. The Santos's want him in the White House."
"Doing what exactly?"
"I don't know yet, but it'll be well away from anything too important."
"Well, in The White House that shouldn't be too difficult," Lou replied dryly.
"You're not helping," Josh told her.
Lou took out a legal pad. "Who do you have so far?"
"Me and Donna, Joey and Annabeth, if I can persuade them. I've also talked two of Bartlet's congressional aides, Ed Kendrick and Larry Sawyer, into staying on."
"Right. So including the president, that's five definites and two maybes. Yeah you're screwed."
"We've got two months yet."
"We have an inaugural address to write and none of us are speech writers."
"He'll want to write that himself, but I'm fairly sure I can find him some help if he needs it."
"He'll need it," Lou replied. "He also has to make a start on appointments. Chairman of the joint chiefs, an NSA head, surgeon general, a cabinet."
"Yeah," Josh replied. He ran his hands threw his hair and sighed, this was why he needed Leo and it made him miss his mentor even more, if that was possible. "I'll talk to him."
Lou saw the cloud descend back over Josh. "We'll get there," she assured him.
"Josh," an intern interrupted. "NSA on 3."
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Josh hung up the phone and sat staring into space. Nancy McNally's call had brought home to him, yet again, that Leo really was gone. A fresh wave of depression rolled over him, but he fought the feelings, pushing them aside to be dealt with later, in private. He composed himself and went to see Matt.
Matt looked up when Josh entered the room. "Hey. What's going on?"
"Dr. McNally just called."
"And?" Matt asked nervously.
"She's agreed."
Matt smiled. "Yeah? That's great."
"We'll set up a press conference for this afternoon for the two of you."
"Good. What about the DNC?"
"They're my next call."
Matt nodded and studied Josh. "Nancy'll be good," he said. "But it should have been Leo. It's funny how much I'm missing him. I mean I only knew him a few months, but he made a big impact." He smiled. "We had it all worked out you know. Who'd do what, how we'd run the country. A president and vice president who were actually working together."
Josh smiled in spite of himself. "That would have been a first. But Nancy will be good," he agreed.
"So what's wrong?"
"She brings us foreign policy and military experience, which is something we were sorely lacking without Leo. But she's never been in government. We needed Leo 'cause ... well we need someone who knows how to run a country."
"You were Leo's deputy for seven years, Josh. You know how to run a country. Don't go getting cold feet on me again. We'll do just fine." Matt could see that Josh was unsure. "Leo was convinced you'd make a good chief of staff. At Ellie Bartlet's wedding, when they were badgering me to replace you, to let Leo run the campaign. He told me that no one could do anymore than you had, not even him, and he was right."
Josh nodded. "Thanks. I'm not getting cold feet. I just ... I have this habit of second guessing myself."
"I'd noticed. It's one of the things I like about you. There's something frightening about people who see things in black and white, who never have doubts."
"I guess," Josh agreed. "So we'll do just fine, you reckon?"
"More than that. We're going to make a difference "
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Josh and some of his staff, including the recently poached Ed and Larry, stood at the back of the room and watched Matt introduce his choice for vice president, Dr Nancy McNally.
"It's going well," Rhona commented. "We might just pull this off."
"Doesn't she know the rules?" Ed asked.
Rhona looked at him, "Rules?"
Donna smiled, "Never say that anything is going well, until it's done and dusted. They'll make you go outside, turn around three times and spit."
"It's like a curse," Ed added.
"You bring down the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing," Josh said without looking away from the podium.
"You're all mad," Rhona told them.
"Oh that's a tough one," Donna said as Nancy was asked about her husband's political leanings.
"He's a Republican?" Ed asked.
"Makes us more bi-partisan," Bram said. "She can handle them."
"It's not like she hasn't faced the press before."
They listened a little longer. There were questions about the electoral college, the DNC, the senate; but between them, Matt and Nancy fielded everything.
"It's like they've been doing this together for months," Bram commented.
"What did the DNC say?" Rhona asked.
Josh glanced at her. "They were fine. They'd have been happier with Baker, but what were they going to do, withdraw support for their own leader? It's the senate we're going to have trouble with." He turned to Donna. "They've had long enough. Wind it up."
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By eight that evening Donna had done all the press releases and all the lobbying for Nancy she could for the day, so she went to find Josh. "Hi."
Josh looked up and smiled at Donna. "Hey."
"Busy?"
"Staffing issues. I still need a communications director and deputy, not to mention my deputy."
"What about Joey?"
Josh pulled a face, "Haven't thought how to ask her yet."
"Usually, 'hey would you like a job', is a good start," Donna suggested.
"I don't want to give her the chance to say no. What do you think about Annabeth for deputy communications?"
"She'd be good, what does she think? No, wait, let me guess, you haven't thought how to ask her yet?"
"No. She's been kind of odd around me."
"Yeah."
"Yeah?" Josh asked.
"She thinks you blame her somehow?"
"For what? Wait ... Leo? I don't."
"I know. But she was there, she was the one who told you ... " Donna shrugged. "You should talk to her."
Josh nodded.
"I thought you'd chosen a communications director?" Donna asked.
"Lou won't stay past March."
"Lou was never going to be your choice though, was she. Come on be honest, don't tell me you haven't had the same thought I have?"
"Toby's a felon," Josh replied with a small smile.
Donna pulled a face, "I wasn't talking about Toby, or Will for that matter."
"I know. I just don't know now, if you see what I mean."
"Unfortunately I do. He has the experience, four years as deputy communications director and since then he's been active in local politics. I'm pretty sure he'd agree."
"So am I." Josh agreed.
"Then why not ask him?" But Donna knew the answer to that question. No matter how much he argued that he was fine, she knew Josh felt guilty about Leo's death. She also knew that he had a superstitious dread that if he asked Sam to join them in the White House, something bad would happen to him as well.
Josh really did like the idea of working with Sam again, and he knew what Donna thought his reasons for delaying asking were, but that wasn't it, well not entirely. "You remember what he was like before he left? He couldn't wait to go. I don't want him to feel that he should come back just because I asked him."
"I'm not sure he'd do that. Let me sound him out for you," she offered and Josh nodded. "Haven't seen much of you outside of work in the last few days," she asked.
"I've been busy with all this. I haven't been avoiding you."
"Yes you have."
Josh sighed, "Yes I have. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, just do something about it. Let's have dinner or at least a drink. We could go to Iota?"
"I've got all this stuff ... "
"It'll keep. Come on, you and me, dinner, now," Donna told him.
Josh smiled, "When did you become the boss?"
"I was always the boss."
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Iota
They'd finished dinner and Josh had actually eaten all his food, which had to be a good sign Donna thought. But now she knew couldn't put the moment off any longer. "Helen's asked me to be her chief of staff."
Josh was thrown, "What?"
"Helen's asked me ..."
"Yeah. Why?"
"She needs a chief of staff."
"I know that. Why you?"
"Why not me?"
"Don't get snarky," Josh replied. "I just meant ... I thought you'd be staying with us."
"I am, on Helen's staff."
"You're the campaign spokesperson, it makes sense you'd become press secretary."
"I want to work for Helen. I told her yes."
"Why?" Josh asked again.
Donna wondered sometimes how Josh - a graduate of Harvard and Yale, a Fulbright Scholar, not to mention soon to be the youngest White House chief of staff - could be so dense. "Because for the eight years I worked for you and it meant nothing could happen between us. Because that was hard, but giving up what we've started now, knowing what we'd be giving up would be too much. CJ was right, these jobs do come at too high a price and I think we've already paid that price and more."
"Donna ..."
"The first lady's chief of staff is a very good job and it's the one I want."
"Because of us?"
"Not just because of us. You've wanted to be White House chief of staff your entire life. It's what you've worked for, it's your dream. I've worked in the White House and it was great, but I don't want to spend the next eight years fighting with Congress and the press. Working for Helen, I can make a difference in other ways. Look at the things Dr. Bartlet achieved. Anyway, with you as the president's chief of staff and me as the first lady's, we'll be unstoppable," she smiled.
"This is true," Josh agreed with a smile. "And it'll make a nice change to have someone who has a clue in that job. As long as you're sure, as long as you're not just doing it for us."
"I think us is a good reason, but it's not the only reason."
"So now I have to find a press secretary as well as all the rest."
"Rhona and Ned did it before me."
"Not Ned, he has the charisma of a tree," Josh grimaced. "But Rhona could be good. You know Annabeth isn't going to be happy to have another press secretary to break in."
"She managed it with Toby," Donna pointed out.
"She tried to make him shave off his beard," Josh grinned. "So does this mean you want us to happen?"
"I can't believe you're asking me that. What do you think the last few weeks have been about?"
"What I meant was, you want us to be official, public?"
"Yes."
"Cool."
"Cool?" Donna asked. "760 verbal SAT and 'cool' is the best you can up with?"
"It's been a long week," Josh smiled.
"It has. You weren't planning on going back to the office after this were you?"
"Do you have someplace else in mind?"
"There's a nice apartment in Georgetown I haven't visited in sometime."
Josh smiled, "I'll get the check."
Chapter 4, Preparing For Government ...
