Chapter 8: Advice and Promotion

Time marched on, and so did the Infantry. Everyone's units were doing well. Donna, in particular, was enjoying working with her own small platoon. Each of them brought something different to the table, and Donna was getting to know each one of their different personalities, even when they all moved and acted the same:

Corporal Cliff Calley-the highest-ranked member of the platoon; always a go-getter and asking what else he could do.

Corporal Mike Casper-took his job and his rank seriously, but had a sarcastic streak in him.

Specialist Gina Toscano-one of only two women in the platoon, she was determined to prove herself: a quiet, serious young woman.

Private First Class Wesley Davis-a prankster at heart, but got the job done.

Private First Class Molly O'Connor-the only other woman on the platoon, very down-to-earth, sensitive personality.

Private First Class Curtis Carruthers-a quiet, serious expert on weapons manufacturing.

Private Ned Carlson-the greenest member of the platoon, and acted like it.

Specialist Lester Williams-a tough guy with a big heart, working his way through the Army to pay for college.

Private Ed Smith-Larry's best friend; serious, but could take a joke.

Private Larry Duffy-Ed's best friend; playful, but aimed to please.

That was Donna's platoon. Monday through Friday, 9 to 4, they all worked together. Donna put them through training drills nearly every day, and so far, the training was paying off.

"Okay, hold your fire!" Donna yelled at the peak of a training session. "What is it we always need to watch for, Toscano?"

"Signs that the enemy is approaching, ma'am!" Specialist Toscano replied.

"Adjust your weapon, Carlson! And what signs are those, Casper?" Although she knew the platoon hated it, she often put them on the spot during training drills. It was knowledge they would have to know if they ever went overseas.

"Unfamiliar vehicles and artillery, ma'am!" Corporal Casper responded with as much fervor as Specialist Toscano had.

"That's right." Donna stood back to allow her platoon to work. "Fire at ready!"

They worked steadily for the next hour. Finally, Donna said, "FALL IN!"

The soldiers immediately fell into formation.

"Well done today." Donna told them, giving a curt nod of approval. "If we ever deploy to Afghanistan, you'll be ready. Corporal Calley, lead the platoon back to the barracks. Dismissed!"

The platoon marched back to the barracks. Later that afternoon, Donna was in her room, looking over her own training notes when there was a tap on her door. She looked up to find PFC Molly O'Connor.

"O'Connor." She addressed the young soldier. "May I help you with something?"

"Lieutenant Moss, um…" It was clear that she was nervous about something. "Earlier, when you said we were ready to go to Afghanistan if they sent us...well, I guess I was wondering just how likely that is."

"You mean being deployed?" Donna carefully asked. O'Connor nodded.

"Well, it's looking like the US is pulling out of Afghanistan, but you didn't hear that from me."

"Yes, ma'am. Do you ever worry about going overseas?"

Donna paused. She knew she would have to phrase her answer very carefully to avoid frightening the young woman. However, she also knew it might help her to know that others felt the same way.

"Sometimes." she finally admitted. "I think that it's a worry in the back of every soldier's mind. Not coming home in one piece, or not coming home at all." Memories of Ellie flooded her consciousness. "But you know what I've discovered?" O'Connor nodded for her to continue.

"You can't allow those fears to overpower your thinking. You have to push them to the back of your mind and focus on the task at hand. Because, honestly, if every soldier let their fear hold them back, we wouldn't have an Army." She smiled softly before continuing. "Go back out there and enjoy your time with your friends, and don't let yourself be scared. Just focus on why you're here, all right?"

O'Connor nodded once. "Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome. And listen, when we're off duty, if you ever need to talk, my door's always open. I know the Army can be a scary place at first."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." With that, O'Connor disappeared down the hall. Donna watched her leave and realized that she could potentially mentor these young men and women. All she had to do was listen. From that day forward, she always made a point of going down to the Recreation area after work hours and talking to the enlisted soldiers. While she would never be one of them, she made herself available to listen to their thoughts, their fears, and their joys.

Of course, there was one enlisted soldier she was seeing a lot of that wasn't in her platoon: Staff Sergeant Josh Lyman. On base, they were Lieutenant Moss and Staff Sergeant Lyman to each other. But off base, they were just Josh and Donna, two people trying to make their relationship work. They would meet for dinner at least once a week, an outing that usually ended in Donna going back to Josh's apartment. Donna would usually unentangle herself from Josh at around 1am and head back to the barracks. Captain Hooper would raise her eyebrows at her as she snuck in, but there wasn't really anything she could do. Donna was a twenty-something woman, and she couldn't very well cite her for being out after hours when their time was their own.

…

Josh, meanwhile, was enjoying his time with Donna, but was starting to wonder whether or not this would really work out in the long run. After all, she was still an officer and still technically outranked him. Besides, there was still the small matter of them being in the Army. What would stop the Army from transferring her-or him, for that matter-elsewhere. How would they maintain a relationship if they were separated by hundreds of miles? Josh needed advice-and there was one person he could think of to turn to.

On a Sunday, his day off, he started up his Buick and drove down to the Pentagon in Arlington, just a ten-minute drive from Washington DC. He headed up to the building he was looking for and quickly asked directions to the office he wanted.

As he entered the outer office, he found a secretary typing at the desk. "I'm here to see General McGarry." he said in his most polite voice.

The woman looked up. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Um...no. But, look, just tell the General Josh Lyman's here to see him. I guarantee you he'll let me back."

"Josh!" General McGarry cried as he stepped through the door to his office. "It's all right, Mrs. Landingham." he told the older woman. "He's the son of an old friend. He can come back."

Mrs. Landingham sighed. "You really must tell me these things, General."

"Well, to be fair, I didn't know he was coming." General McGarry volleyed back. Mrs. Landingham sighed, but buzzed Josh through anyway.

"Don't mind Mrs. Landingham." he told Josh as they stepped into his office. "She's been working for me for years, and we like to banter." He looked Josh up and down. "So, it took three years for you to make good on your promise to come see me after your father died."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, sir. But you know what the Army's like."

"Yes, I do." Leo said, nodding sagely. "So, have you come on business or pleasure?"

"Actually, sir, I came to ask for advice."

"Ah, one of my specialties." he quipped dryly.

"Personal advice. From a professional angle."

"That's an odd combination."

Josh took a breath. "You remember Donna? From New Hampshire?"

Leo was quiet for a second. Then he said, "One of Jed's old students from West Point?"

"Yeah, the blonde."

"I met her. She was pretty torn up over Ellie being KIA. Sweet girl."

"Well, I'm kind of in love with her."

Leo just stared at him. "Are you an idiot? Or are you just plain stupid?"

Josh was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know how much trouble you can get into for even looking at a superior wrong? And who knows what it'll do to her career? Boy, if I wasn't in uniform, I would take you out the back of this building and whack you with a two-by-four!"

"Leo, just hypothetically, if I had feelings for her, what should I do?"

"Hypothetically, I would leave it alone. As a General in the United States Army, I cannot condone a relationship between an officer and an enlisted, you know that."

"And as my father's old friend?"

"As an old friend of your father's?"

Josh nodded for him to continue.

"I would give you simple advice. Follow your heart, Josh. 'Gather ye rosebuds while you may'. You ever heard that before?"

"I can't say I have, General."

"It means you should take advantage of whatever time you have while you're still young-well, relatively young. If you love her, and you really care about her, maybe you should consider choosing."

"Choosing?"

"Yeah, her or the Army. Tell me, Josh, you've been in the Army 16 years. Are you honestly telling me you're gonna go much longer?"

Josh sat back. If he left the Army, he could be with Donna and not have to worry about being separated from her. He could just go wherever she went.

"Well, that's certainly something to think about." Josh told him.

There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Landingham entered. "Pardon me, General, but your 4:00 appointment's here." she said, emphasizing the word appointment and directing it towards Josh.

"Thanks, Mrs. Landingham." She nodded, then left.

General McGarry stood, and Josh stood too.

"I guess I should go." Josh said. He headed for the door.

"Josh?" He turned around.

"Did anything happen between the two of you?"

Josh shrugged, a non-committal response. He wasn't about to give General McGarry ammunition.

"Because if it did, you know I would be obligated to report it to the Army JAG Corps."

Josh nodded in understanding. "Nothing's really happened."

"Gather ye rosebuds, Josh. Think about what your priorities are."

"Thank you, General." Josh replied. He saluted him, then left.

…

The next week, Donna and Carol were hanging out in the common room, writing letters home when CJ entered, followed in short order by Colonel Santos. The two immediately stood and snapped to attention.

"Colonel Santos, sir." Donna greeted him.

"At ease." The two relaxed. "I have some news for you both. Due to your outstanding work with your platoons here at Fort Belvoir, the Army is pleased to honor you both with promotions to First Lieutenant."

Donna didn't say anything, but inside she was bursting with excitement. Her first promotion!

"You'll both be honored with a pinning ceremony this weekend here on base. You are welcome to invite anybody you'd like."

"Thank you, sir." Donna and Carol both said.

"Congratulations on this well-deserved promotion." Colonel Santos nodded to them both before leaving the room.

"Congrats, Lieutenants." Major Cregg said, smiling briefly before following Colonel Santos out.

Donna waited until Major Cregg was out of earshot, then squealed before wrapping Carol up into a hug. "We're promoted!"

"You bet we are! I bet I could get my parents to come up for the pinning ceremony. How about you?"

"I don't know who I'm going to get for my insignia pinning." Donna said truthfully. She thought she might be able to get her parents to fly out for the weekend, but that wasn't a guarantee. Suddenly, she had an idea. An incredibly risky idea, but an idea nonetheless.

Fifteen minutes later, Josh was opening the door at his apartment.

"Donna?" he asked, opening the door wider. "Did I miss something? Do we have a date?"

"No, I just have some news. Can I come in?"

"Sure." he said, beckoning her in. "I'm glad to see you."

"Thank you. Guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm now a First Lieutenant?"

Josh grinned widely and hugged her. "Way to go, Donna! Your first promotion! When's the pinning?"

"This weekend. Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a somewhat awkward question to ask, and I completely understand if you won't do it."

"What is it?"

"Would you do me the honor of pinning on my first badge?"

Josh was flabbergasted. He would be honored, but would it be appropriate? Then he heard Leo's voice in his head: Gather ye rosebuds, Josh. He took a deep breath.

"The honor would be all mine." he told Donna.

…

That weekend, Donna, Carol, and Charlie were sworn in as First Lieutenants of the United States Army. There was a brief ceremony, then the pinning of the insignias. Officer Bartlet had come down to pin Charlie, and Charlie was grinning broadly. Carol smiled proudly as her parents pinned hers. And Donna smiled softly as Josh approached her. He sure looked handsome in his dress uniform.

"Congratulations." he said softly as he pinned the First Lieutenant insignia onto her uniform. Donna beamed. This had definitely been a good idea.

A/N: Please leave a review, let me know what you think!