Hi! Thank you all so much for the reviews! I'm glad you liked the start!! This is set during the 2nd series after the 'Noel' episode. I'm sorry if there is any mistakes about the time line of the show. I hope you like it; please review and let me know! Thanks!

Enjoy

From The Past

No Time For This:

Leo looked down at Josh who was sat on the couch in his office. He silently watched him as he tried to take in the information he had just been told. Leo had explained the reason that Leanne had turned up was because she wanted to see for herself that he was okay after the shooting. It wasn't until he said that she wasn't alone, that a child was with her, a child that she was claiming was his.

"You're serious?" Josh looked up at him.

Leo shrugged. "She could be lying...About the kid."

"You think?" He whispered, not knowing what to think. His head was spinning.

"Well, it's not unheard of, is it?" Leo stated, taking a seat opposite him. "She could make a lot of money selling a story about this... About you."

"She wouldn't do that." Josh shook his head but Leo just looked at him. "She wouldn't... I know her!"

"Josh, aside from that one night 4 years go, you haven't seen her since high school." Leo reminded him. "People change."

"Leo..."

"She was a nice girl... But she's grown up..." He continued. "You could be right... She might have just wanted to see you... For you to meet your son... But you've also got to be prepared for the possibility that she's not the same person that she was before."

Josh sank back against the couch, deep in thought.

"She lives in England now, Josh." Leo told him softly. "Don't go doing anything crazy and getting yourself hurt, okay?"

"Yeah." He mumbled in reply.

XxXxX

"Hey." Sam appeared from a room as Josh walked past. "What was all that about?"

Josh gave him a sidewards glance as they walked. "What?"

"The thing with Leo."

"It's nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing." Sam continued to follow him but noticed they weren't heading back to his office. "Where are we going?"

"I've got to go and meet someone." Josh told him.

"I thought we were all going to lunch."

"Something has come up."

"Need me to come?" He offered.

"No."

"Please."

Josh paused and looked at him curiously. "What's going on?"

"I don't want to go back to my office."

"Why not?"

"C.J and Toby made me come and find you."

"And you found me... Job well done." He started to walk again.

Sam continued to look at the place that Josh had just been standing before turning and jogging to catch up with him.

"I'm meant to bring you back with me too."

"Just tell them I had to meet a friend."

"They're not going to accept that." He shook his head.

"I don't care."

"I do! They think there's something big happening and they think I'm involved."

"Tell them you're not."

"Oh, yes because I haven't thought of that already." He replied sarcastically.

Josh stopped again, sighing. "Sam, what do you want from me?"

"I want to know what's going on..."

"It's nothing."

"Josh?!"

"Sam, just go back to work...Tell C.J and Toby what you like." He walked off again and this time Sam didn't follow him.

XxXxX

Josh knocked on the door and waited for it to open, shifting from one foot to the other, nervously. Leanne had given Leo the address where they were staying at her cousin's friend's apartment.

Even though Leo wasn't happy about Leanne's visit, he understood that Josh needed to talk to her and find out what exactly was going on but he also told him to be very careful and not to make any decisions straight away.

Josh was just about to knock again when the door opened and a woman he didn't recognise appeared.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh, I hope so...I'm looking for Leanne Matterson."

The woman looked at him for a moment. "Are you Josh?"

"Um, yeah..."

She nodded slightly before stepping aside. "Come on in."

"Thanks."

"I'm Tina, I'm a friend of Leanne's."

"Nice to meet you." He gave her a polite smile.

"I'll just go and get her." Tina told him, take a seat.

Josh watched her leave the room before moving over to the couch and sitting down. It was a few minutes until Leanne appeared and Josh shot straight to his feet. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, neither of them knew what to say.

"I didn't think you'd come." She broke the silence.

"What the hell is going on, Leanne?" He asked, quietly. "You turn up at my work with some kid..."

"Let's sit down first." She took a seat and watched him for a moment before he sat down opposite her. "I'm sorry I didn't call first to let you know I was coming..."

"Yeah because that's what surprised me..." He said sarcastically.

"I'm guessing Mr McGarry told you about our conversation."

"You still haven't told me what's going on." He leaned forwards, resting his arms on the tops of his legs.

"You have a son, Josh." She looked right into his eyes. "He's three years old...Almost four...And he's in the room next door..."

Josh stared at her. Leo had told him this back in the office and hearing it the second time from her mouth, he was still shocked.

"Everyday I look at him and I see you..." She continued when he didn't speak. "I can see you in ever little bit of him..."

Josh rose to his feet again and started to pace a little.

"I know this is a lot to take in..."

"He's three?!" He exclaimed. "You never thought to mention this to me?!"

"By the time I found out I was pregnant, I was already in England." She stood up to.

"A country where there are no means of communication!" He threw his arms in the air dramatically and rolled his eyes.

"You had a life here! A good job that you loved! I didn't want to mess that up for you!"

He let out a small laugh and shook his head, turning away from her.

Leanne sighed in defeat and dropped back into her seat. She silently watched as he continued to pace a little, deep in thought.

"Do you want to meet him?" She asked, quietly.

"What?" He spun around to face her.

"He's in the next room playing with his cars... I can go and get him..." She went to stand again but he stopped her.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Disappointment washed over her face. "Oh."

"I just... I can't be..." He stuttered to find the right words. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"I'm sorry?" She stared at him.

"I haven't seen you in four years and that was just one night..." He pointed out. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You want a test done?" She asked.

He shrugged silently and looked down at the floor. He didn't like what he was accusing her of but Leo was right; people change.

"I didn't come here to cause you any trouble, Josh..." She whispered, tears burning in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "I just thought... I thought it would be the right time...After everything that has happened...I just wanted him to say one day... I met my Dad... We went to America and I met my Dad...but I understand if that's not going to work for you."

"You can't just turn up and expect me to just go along with this!" He stated.

"I didn't expect anything." She claimed, refusing to look at him.

"I should go."

"Yeah."

He sighed but then paused in the doorway.

"What's his name?"

She looked up and saw his back was to her. "Jackson."

"Okay."

"Jackson Joshua Lyman is his full name." She added quickly.

He looked back at her briefly before leaving.

XxXxX

"You and Sam bugged me all morning about the four of us getting out of here to get some lunch...Like the old days during the campaign..." Toby walked along aside Josh as he made his way to his office, just getting back from seeing Leanne. "And you do a disappearing act."

"Hey, you're back." Sam joined them.

"You going to tell us what's going on?" Toby asked but Josh still stayed silent. "Josh?!"

Josh walked into his office, closing the door behind him, almost causing Toby to walk into it as he tried to follow.

"Is everything okay?" Donna asked, concerned.

"Uh, I think he's a little upset..." Sam stated.

"Who is?" C.J asked, walking over to them.

"Josh."

"He's back?" She questioned, looking at his closed office door. "What happened?"

'He nearly just took my head off slamming the door!" Toby exclaimed.

"Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration..." Sam looked at him.

"What did you do to him?" C.J asked Toby.

"I didn't do anything!"

"What did you do to him?" She turned to Sam.

"Why would it be me?"

"Well, it wasn't me!" C.J claimed.

"Why does it have to be any of you?" Donna cut in.

"Good point." Sam nodded.

"Whatever, just get in there and fix it." She pushed him towards the door.

"No, let me..." Donna stopped Sam. "If you have done something, you'll just anger him more."

"I haven't done anything! I bet it has something to do with the woman Leo was talking about earlier." Sam said as Donna carefully entered Josh's office.

"If she's a call girl, I'm going to kill you." Toby told him.

"Okay, shall I just go and confess to the President now and you can just tell me what crime I've committed later?"

"So you're admitting you did commit a crime?" C.J looked at him.

"I'm just going to sit over here." He pointed to Donna's desk before taking a seat.

They waited in silence for a couple of minutes before Donna left the office.

"Well?" C.J asked.

"He said he wants to be left alone."

"Why?"

"He wouldn't say...He seems quite upset though." Donna told them. "Maybe, we should just do as he asked."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen." Toby said sarcastically walking towards the door.

"Toby." Donna blocked his path.

"What's going on here?" Leo asked, joining the group.

"Josh is hiding in his office." Toby turned to glance at him. "Donna won't let us in."

"What has he said?" Leo questioned.

"Not a lot." Donna shrugged. "He just said he wanted some time alone."

Leo nodded slightly, taking in the information. "Can you let him know I want to talk to him?"

Donna turned towards the office again but then paused and looked back at him. "Am I telling him he has to talk to you or asking him if he wants to talk to you?"

Leo thought about it for a moment, deciding it probably was not the time to be pushing Josh. "Ask him."

Donna nodded and entered the office.

"What's going on?" Toby asked Leo.

"Nothing."

"Leo..."

"Toby, it's nothing."

They all turned when Donna came back out. "He said he'll come by and see you later."

Leo sighed, he wanted to walk in there and ask him what the hell happened with Leanne but knew it probably wouldn't do any good.

"Okay, everyone I'm sure you have work to do..." Leo looked at them but no one moved. "So, y'know... get back to work!"

"What about Josh?" C.J asked.

"He'll be okay." Leo told them, taking the seat that Sam just vacated. "I'm just going to wait here for a little while."

Donna wasn't sure whether she should point out that he was actually sitting at her desk but before anyone could say or do anything Josh's door swung open.

He looked a little surprised to see Leo sat down at Donna's desk. "You knew I was going to change my mind and come talk to you, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"You know it freaks me out when you know what I'm going to do before I know."

"Well, it freaks me out when I don't know." Leo replied.

Josh sighed, opening the door fully and stepping aside, silently inviting him in.

The others watched curiously as Leo entered the office.

"Josh..." Sam started.

"You guys really should get some work done." He mumbled before closing the door again.

"Well, I'm going to go and write up some statements." Toby said.

"What for?" Sam frowned a little.

"For whatever is going on in there." He pointed to Josh's office. "I've got a feeling this is going to be big."

"How will you know what to write about?" Donna asked, confused.

"I'll write about every problem possible." He claimed before walking away.

"He's joking right?" Donna looked at C.J and Sam.

"Of course he is..." C.J told her, following Toby then glanced back at her. "He'll make Sam do at least half of them."

Sam stood, looking at the door that Toby and C.J had just walked through, then to Josh's office before back at Donna. "This day sucks!"

Leo leaned back in his chair, watching as Josh moved around the desk to his own chair. "So, what happened?"

"Not a lot." He sighed, dropping down into the chair.

"I'm guessing you went to see her."

"Yeah."

"And?" Leo prompted when Josh didn't continue.

"And she told me that I had a 3 year old son." Josh looked up at him. "She said she didn't want to cause trouble, she just wanted him to meet me."

"Did you?"

"Meet him? No."

"Why not?"

"Because... I... Because... God, I don't know..." He ran his hands over his face. "I can't have a son!"

"Josh..."

"I'm the Deputy Chief of Staff to the president of The United States!" He stood up and paced in the small space behind his desk. "I haven't got time to be a father!"

"I think you need to calm down a little..." Leo tried to cut in.

"I mean, she's living in England! England! There's like an ocean between us! How is this going to work?" He questioned, but didn't wait for Leo to answer. "How the hell can she think this could work!?"

"Josh, are you sure this kid is yours?"

Josh stopped his rant and turned to look at his boss.

"You can't just go on her word..." He continued.

"His last name is Lyman." He said quietly.

"Josh." Leo sighed.

"Jackson Joshua Lyman..." He informed him. "What if he is my son, Leo...What am I meant to do?"

"I don't know, Josh...What do you want to do?"

He shrugged and sat back down, deep in thought.

"First thing you need to do, is decide whether you actually want to be a part of this child life... Because if you don't then you need to stay away..." Leo told him. "And if you do... Then you need to get a test done before you make a connection with him."

"I guess..." He said quietly.

"Sleep on it..." Leo advised. "Its not a decision you can decide in 5 minutes."

"Yeah..." He agreed, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, okay."

"Well, I should go... Try and get some work done but don't stay late." Leo told him, making his way to the door.

"Okay...Leo? Thanks."

He glanced back at him. "No problem."

Leo couldn't help but feel a little guilty as he made his way back to his own office. He had seen the boy and it was looking back 30 years to when Josh was that age. He knew that he should probably be telling Josh to go and get to know his son, but he just couldn't see how all of this had a happy ending. There was a reason that Josh and Leanne broke up all those years ago and as far as Leo was concerned, those reasons were still a threat. She might have nothing more to do with her family now but they would still hold a grudge against Josh for what happened. Leo was just worried that if Josh let Leanne back into his life, he'd become a target to it again. So much had already happened this year, and he didn't know how much more Josh could take.

XxXxX

"Hey." Josh appeared in the doorway to Toby's office. "What you working on?"

"Just some statements..." Toby replied not looking up at him.

"When you're finished do you want to come and get drunk?" Josh asked.

This got Toby's attention. "I'm done."

"What about the statements?"

"They can wait." He grabbed his coat.

"What are they for?"

"Well, since you wouldn't tell us what's going on, we decided to prepare for the worst." Toby replied. "I've already written one for if the woman is married and you're having an affair... I'm working on one now for if you accidentally ran over her Grandmother or something..."

Josh stared at him for a moment before picking up the paper he had been writing on. "Oh my, God, you're serious!"

"Sam's writing one for if she's your long lost Mother..."

Josh leaned back against the wall and rubbed his eyes. "Can this day get any weirder?"

"Hey..." Sam walked into the office, holding a bit of paper. "I'm done with this."

"You guys have way too much time on your hands." Josh stated.

"Do you want to tell us the real reason?" Sam asked.

"No." Toby said before Josh could answer.

"No?" Sam frowned looking at him.

"It can wait..."

"Toby, you've been saying all day about how we need to..." Sam started confused.

"Sam, shut up... We're wasting time." Toby walked past the two of them.

"Wasting what time?" Sam asked, following the pair off them and watched as Toby entered his own office and taking his coat before throwing it at him.

"Drinking time." Josh informed him.

"Drinking time?" He repeated as he put on his coat.

"What the hell are you doing? Impersonating a parrot?" Toby said in frustration. "Lets go get drunk!!!"

"Uh, okay..." Sam agreed even though he was even more confused then he was before.

"C.J!!!" Toby shouted as they walked towards her office.

She appeared in her doorway and glared at them. "What?!"

"Get your coat."

"Where we going?" She asked.

"We're going to get drunk..." Sam answered before adding. "Apparently."

"What?"

"We're going to have a few drinks to make up for missing the lunch." Josh explained. "Are you coming or not?"

"Okay, fine but only because someone needs to keep an eye on you three." She claimed, grabbing her jacket and her bag before following them out of the building.

XxXxX

They had been at the bar for an hour now and Josh had hardly said a word to anyone. Charlie had run into them as they were leaving the White House and decided to tag along and Donna had just turned up too.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Sam asked them as they all stood at one end of the bar, watching Josh who was sat at the other, staring into a glass of scotch.

"I don't know..." Donna replied. "He wouldn't tell me..."

"It must be bad if he's ordering scotch." Sam claimed.

"I didn't even know he liked scotch." C.J commented.

"Maybe he doesn't... He hasn't drunk any yet..." Charlie pointed out. "He's been staring at it for the past hour."

"He'd be a bad alcoholic..." Toby concluded.

C.J gave Toby a look before turning back to look at Josh. "You think this Leanne girl, is an ex-girlfriend or something?"

"Probably." Sam shrugged.

"Maybe I should talk to him then."

"You?" Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he could do with a little womanly advice."

"Womanly?" He repeated. "Maybe Donna should talk to him."

"Don't make me kick your ass in public." She warned to which Toby held his hands up in mock surrender.

They slowly moved down the bar, getting close enough to be able to hear what C.J was saying to Josh.

"So, what's wrong Romeo?" C.J asked, sitting on the stall next to him.

"Romeo?" He asked, glancing at her.

"You're having woman trouble...I'm here to help."

"Thanks but I'm fine." He looked back into the glass.

"You can tell me anything, you know..." She continued. "Is she married?"

"C.J..." He sighed loudly.

"Because the press might ask some questions about it, but it'll blow over..."

"Oh, leave the man alone." Toby interrupted.

"Excuse me, we're having a private conversation here... He needs advice."

"He needs to do what every man does... Get drunk." Toby claimed.

"How is that productive?" C.J started.

"Josh?"

He turned quickly and saw Leanne stood behind him.

"Hi." She said quietly.

"Hi." He replied, shortly then turned away from her again.

C.J stepped back to the others, as they all watched closely.

"Someone at your office said I'd be able to find you here..." She explained. "I just… I just wanted to say I'm sorry... Sorry that I turned up like I did... I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."

"Yeah, you've said that already..." He muttered, still refusing to face her.

"You think this is easy for me?" She asked. "You think I enjoy this?! God, Josh...You have no idea what its been like for me! I've had no one for such a long time..."

"Yeah, well you were the one that broke up with me." He stated, bring his glass to his lips and swallowed the scotch down, then signalled to the barman for another one.

"Yeah, I remember..." She replied. "But I had no choice... You know that.. Everyone said it was the right thing to do and it was the right thing to do...You think you're life would have turned out like this if we had stayed together?"

He remained silent, staring in to his now refilled glass.

"Josh, you have an amazing life... One that you love and that you deserve... I'd never want to do anything to ruin it... But that doesn't mean that not being able to be a part of if doesn't hurt... Because it does!" She stated, still talking to his back but she didn't stop.

"I thought going off to college alone and gowning up would change things... That it would make me stop thinking about you, but I made the mistake of going back afterwards... I heard all these stories about how well you were doing... How Noah and Maria's boy was doing wonders in Washington... And it just got worse when you started working on The Bartlet for President campaign... I mean, this guy was barely known... And then all of a sudden, Joshua Lyman ditches Hoynes for him... And I know you weren't the only one... And I'm not so completely blind with love to believe that you got that man elected all on your own... But the people that knew you knew how much you like to win... And then you switch campaigns just like that and it got people's attention. Why would Josh Lyman, quit working for a campaign that was bound to win for some guy that was barely known??"

She paused for a moment, giving him a chance to comment but he didn't.

"You think all of that could have happened if we were together?" She whispered. "We would be back home in Connecticut...You'd be bored out of your mind working for some Law firm... And you'd resent me for it."

"I'd never resent you." He mumbled.

"Maybe not... But I'd resent me... I'd resent me for holding you back..." She shook her head, getting a little emotional again. "I'm sorry, Josh... I really am... I never ever wanted it to be like this..."

"Lee, when did it get this crazy?" He stood up and turned to face her.

She smiled slightly, reaching out and gently brushing her fingertips over his hand. "The day you offered to carry my books to science."

She took a step towards him, pressing her lips against his cheek softly and as she pulled back, she slipped a photograph into his hand. "I'm booked on a flight back to England in 4 hours... I'll be gone and you can get back to what you're best at..."

"Lee..."

She shook her head to cut him off, closing her eyes as she tried to gain control of her emotions. "Bye, Josh..."

He stared at her as she walked away and then looked down to what she had handed him. His hand shook a little and he brushed his thumb over the picture of Leanne sat holding a newborn baby closely to her.

"Josh?" Sam asked softly, stepping towards him. "Are you okay?"

Josh shoved the photo into his pocket quickly before Sam saw what it was.

"Josh?" He repeated.

Josh still didn't reply, instead he turned back to the bar, drank his scotch in one mouthful before rushing out of the bar.

"Well, I'm more confused now then when this day started." Sam declared looking back at the others.

"Like a normal day then?" Toby quipped, already losing interesting in whatever disaster problem Josh's love life was having.

Sam opened his mouth to reply but then sighed and sunk back down into his chair. "Pretty, much yeah..."

TBC

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