Author's Note: This chapter takes place between Two Cathedrals and Manchester Part One. Reviews are appreciated and encouraged. :)

"It's Not All Peaches and Cream"

Josh had put in another long day and he felt like the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up to him. He glanced over at his television and noticed that CJ was still briefing, or what she used to call briefing. Lately he'd taken to thinking that she was more like a Gladiator. They'd send her into the Coliseum with a sword and shield, but it was really no help when the tiger was released.

She looked tired and exasperated and she was clearly on the defensive, which didn't happen very often. He recalled the moment when he had briefed and CJ told him he was hostile. He hated to admit it, but at that moment CJ looked hostile and more than a little rattled.

"Donna," Josh bellowed as he looked away from the screen.

"Yeah?" she asked as she entered his office. She had her coat on and purse over her shoulder.

"You're leaving?" he asked, momentarily side-tracked from what he had intended to ask her.

"Yeah," she said.

"Am I leaving?"

"I'm glad you asked that," Donna said perching on the edge of his guest chair. "Yes, you're leaving a little early tonight; if eleven-thirty constitutes early anyway."

"I'm not really ready to leave yet," Josh told her.

"Okay, well I am," Donna said. He took a good look at her and noticed that she looked as tired as he felt. The difference was he thought that Donna would probably get sleep if she went home. So, instead of giving her a hard time, he decided to let her go. She had more than earned an extra hour of sleep.

"Okay," Josh said.

"Seriously?" Donna asked shocked.

"Yeah," Josh shrugged.

"Are you leaving?"

"Not quite yet."

"I should stay then."

"No," Josh said. "You should go. I'm just sticking around to talk to CJ after she gets out of the lion's den."

"It hasn't been good," Donna commented.

"So it wasn't just me then?" Josh asked, slightly relieved and slightly perturbed to know that his intuition about the briefings had been correct.

"She's seen better days in there," Donna said.

"Yeah," Josh sighed. He took a moment to watch CJ slam her notebook shut and book it out of the briefing room. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Are you sure you don't need me here?"

"I'm leaving in ten minutes," Josh promised.

"Okay, see you tomorrow then."

Donna left and Josh took a moment to arrange a few papers and notes. He tossed a binder in his backpack and made his way over to CJ's office where he found the door closed.

"She in there?" Josh asked Carol.

"Yeah, but," Carol hesitated. "I wouldn't go in there."

"Really."

"Yeah."

"I'll take my chances," Josh said knocking on the door lightly.

"Go away," CJ called feebly.

Josh ignored her response and opened the door only to find CJ sitting her chair with her head planted firmly on her desk.

"Are you sleeping?" Josh asked.

"No," CJ replied, not looking up.

"Meditation?" he tried again.

"I seem to recall telling you to go away," CJ said finally, slowly lifting her head. "Ow."

"What's going on with your neck there?" Josh asked.

"An unfortunate by-product of stress," CJ replied. He noticed how she barely moved her neck.

"You feeling a bit of stress Claudia Jean?" Josh asked, trying to be funny, but not really succeeding. She just gave him a hard look.

"You look tired," he commented.

"So do you," she shot back.

Josh walked behind CJ's desk and said, "Put your head down."

"Why?"

"Just do it," he said.

She obliged and he rubbed his hands together a few times and placed his fingers on either side of CJ's neck and started to rub.

"Ow," CJ said.

"Am I hurting you?"

"Yeah, but it's also the best I've felt all day, so keep going," she replied.

"Masochist," Josh said.

"Maybe," CJ replied. He could almost feel the grin creep to her lips, even though her head was down. Josh smiled to himself before moving on to a new topic.

"So, I saw briefing tonight," Josh said trying to dance around the subject that he really wanted to discuss.

"I'd call it a public flaying, but whatever floats your boat," CJ replied.

"I thought I noticed some blood on the podium."

"And it's all mine, wouldn't you know?"

"This last week has been a little crazy," Josh acknowledged.

"It's been One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest around here," CJ corrected him. "The inmates are running the asylum."

"It was sort of to be expected," Josh said.

CJ lifted up her head, dislodging Josh's fingers from her neck. "No Josh, it wasn't to be expected," CJ countered. "If it was to be expected I'd have talking points and prep time and I'd be prepared for everything they're throwing at me in there. Instead I'm playing defense because up until the press conference we thought he wasn't running again."

Josh took in her statement and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Would you rather he wasn't running again?" he asked.

"Of course not" CJ replied. "I just…you and Sam and Toby, you've all had time to digest this and regroup and be happy. I feel like I was thrown to the wolves and they've been picking at me, piece by piece for the last week."

"I'm sorry," Josh said.

"It's not your fault," CJ said rubbing her own neck. "I just need some sleep, which, unfortunately won't come."

"You can't sleep?"

"No. Can you?"

"I'll have you know I got a solid 15 hours this week," Josh said with a smug grin.

"In an eighty hour work-week I'd say you're still running on a deficit," she replied with a grin.

"You should go home and get some sleep," Josh suggested. "Get out of here for at least a few hours."

"Yeah," CJ sighed. "I kind of did a stupid thing on Monday."

"What's that?"

"I walked to work."

"Okay," Josh said not really understanding.

"I don't feel like walking home. I can't sleep, but I'm too tired to walk all the way home."

"CJ, it's Thursday," Josh said. "You've been sleeping here since Monday night?"

"Hence the neck issues," she replied.

"Why didn't you call a cab?"

"I haven't been to the bank in about four weeks and a quick trip to the ATM isn't in the cards around here lately."

"You could've asked me for a ride. Come on, I'm taking you to your place right now."

"You don't have to," CJ feebly protested.

"Come on," Josh said forcefully, which was a slight turn-on.

"Okay, thanks," CJ said. She quickly collected her things, turned off her televisions and made her way out to Josh's car.

"How's the neck?" he asked as they drove.

"Better, but I could have used another ten minutes of your magic hands," CJ said.

"I think that can be arranged."

"You don't have to."

"I'm honestly not tired," Josh said. "I'd just go home and be up until two anyway. Besides, idle hands are the devil's playground."

"Trouble," CJ said finishing the line from The Music Man.

They made the rest of the trip to CJ's apartment in relative silence. Josh ruminated on CJ's comments back at the office and CJ thought about the myriad of mistakes she knew she had made in the briefing room that night.

Josh parked the car and they made their way up CJ's quiet street to the door of her building. "You're sure you want to come in?" CJ asked.

"Are you sure you want me to?" Josh asked.

"Of course," CJ dismissed him. "It'll actually be nice to have some company."

They made their way into the dark apartment and CJ tossed her purse on the table. "Take off your shirt and lay on the bed," Josh instructed her.

"Seriously? That's the approach you want to take?" CJ asked, giving him a hard time.

"Yes, for two reasons. One, you're the one who needs my magic hands and two, you know part of you really wants to obey my every command."

"That part of me must be buried deep, deep, inside," CJ said, but nonetheless, starting to unbutton her shirt and walking to the bedroom. She made a point of removing her shirt and tossing it over her head and in Josh's direction as she crawled on the bed. Josh caught her blouse in mid-air and caught a whiff of her perfume. He swallowed hard and tossed CJ's shirt on the top of her dresser.

Josh unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled them up before he crawled on the bed and straddled CJ's back. He warmed up his hands again and placed both of them on CJ's neck. She let out a loud groan, which indicated her pleasure with his ministrations, but it also made Josh's pulse quicken. He tried to put the thought out of his mind. He was here helping CJ. He didn't have any designs on getting her into bed. However, if things took a turn in that direction, he certainly wouldn't turn it down.

"Ahh, Josh," CJ groaned again. Then she giggled. "That sounded bad."

"It didn't sound bad," Josh assured her with a chuckled. "I liked the sound of it actually."

"I'll bet you did," CJ replied. "So, do you have a secret masseuses' license that you don't talk about?"

"This all God-given talent Claudia Jean."

"Then you should know that God has been good to you mi amour," she replied. She lay there and let the feeling of Josh's fingers running over her neck help to relax her muscles. She felt like she might even be able to move her neck in the other direction. Of course she also started to have impure thoughts about Josh and his magic fingers.

Josh worked on CJ's neck and then ran his hands over her bare shoulders, massaging the muscles forcefully. It was all CJ could do not to moan with relief. It was like she could feel the weight of the world being massaged out of her muscles.

Josh gave her shoulders a last rub and leaned over so that his mouth was close to her ear. "Better?" he asked softly.

CJ felt the tickle of his stubble on her earlobe and she quickly turned under him so that they were face-to-face. "Definitely," she said.

Before Josh really understood his actions he was leaning forward and placing his lips on CJ's. He kissed her fiercely, nervous that he'd taken her by surprise. It was then that he became acutely aware that she probably could feel his true intention between her legs at that very moment. For a moment he felt like a heel, but it was only for a moment because CJ returned his vigor by wrapping her legs tightly around his hips and bucking so that they were firmly together.

CJ kissed Josh with intensity. They'd been together many times before, but tonight seemed a little more unexpected and a lot more urgent than she could remember. She knew she couldn't sleep and felt enough pressure and stress to last a lifetime so why not release some of the tension? Before she knew it, she had Josh down to his boxer shorts and she was clad in only her bra and panties.

"So, I take it your neck feels better?" Josh asked as he kissed and nipped at her collarbone.

"So much better," she affirmed, running her nails down his chest. He hissed lightly and tried to control himself, but it seemed that CJ wasn't in the mood for a controlled evening because she allowed her hands to roam down his boxer shorts. She smiled when she saw the reaction her actions were having on him.

"Claudia Jean," he whispered. "I want you."

"Not more than I want you," she said quickly before covering Josh's lips with her own.

Josh didn't need much more than that to release his inhibitions and experience one of the best nights they'd shared in years.

Later, CJ was curled up on his chest and he felt something wet drip from her face. He was pretty certain it was a tear and he got nervous. "CJ?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Josh asked as he felt the muscles tense in her neck again. It was then that he realized that she was crying. "CJ?"

She looked up at him and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. She wasn't crying hard, but a few tears had fallen. Part of him thought that maybe sleeping together tonight had been a mistake. But then he knew better and could tell that the tears were a by-product of the stress and uncertainty at work. Josh said nothing. He leaned forward and pulled her up into a tight hug. "It's going to be okay," he assured her.

He felt her sigh in his arms. "It's not okay Josh," she insisted. "It's not going to be okay. I don't know how you all do it."

"Do what?" he asked pulling away and situating himself so he was leaning against the headboard and CJ was leaning with her cheek nestled in his shoulder.

"Reconcile everything that's happened in the last week. The MS, Mrs. Landingham, he's not running, he's running, meetings with counsel, Haiti…"

"Babish has been beating you up hasn't he?"

"I'm sure it's the same for everyone," she shrugged.

"Something tells me it's not."

"You're right. I'm the only one who has consistently lied about things." She let out a tired chuckle. She had pushed the tears back and she was no longer in danger of crying.

"You didn't know."

CJ just shrugged. Josh wanted to ask her about it, but he decided it was probably better if they said little to each other about what they each knew. It would only be a matter of time before any private conversation they had came back to haunt them.

"As for Haiti," Josh sighed, "the stories had to be separated CJ, you know that."

"Do I?"

"You're still a vital part of the team."

"So vital I'm not needed," CJ said ironically. "You wouldn't understand the feeling."

"CJ--"

"You don't. You get to sit in your office and plot strategy all day. I get to stand in front of a mob of angry reporters and talk and talk and talk and Josh, the more I talk the better the case they can make against me. I don't have the perk of silence. I have to talk and I have to answer hundreds of difficult questions on three hours sleep and little to no direction from anyone."

"I know things are really difficult right now, but we need you," Josh insisted.

"I'm not so sure about that anymore," CJ said defeated. "You know, before the announcement and the press conference someone asked me if the water was over my head. I said it wasn't over my head, it was at it. If he asked me that same question today I'd tell him I was starting to drown."

"Then I guess it's up to me to pull you back into the shallow end," Josh said taking her hand. "I'm not gonna let you drown."

"You think you can stop it?" she asked with a small, sad grin. He was always so sure of himself. So confident. She wished a little of that would rub off on her.

"I know I can. The water is at my head too, but I'm swimming CJ. I'm swimming back to shore and I'm bringing you with me."

CJ leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. "Thank you," she said. "Did I tell you that I liked your press release the other day?"

"No, you didn't," Josh said puffing his chest out a little.

"As much as it's the wrong time, it was pretty great," CJ said.

"I don't necessarily think it's the wrong time," Josh countered.

"It is," CJ said firmly.

It was then that Josh got a small knot in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't told CJ, but he'd sent the press release out that evening. He was sure she'd find out the next day and part of him thought he should probably give her a heads up, but just now she seemed so stressed that he didn't want to add to her list of worries.

"I'm gonna be watching your briefings," Josh said, his voice a little drowsy. "I'll make sure you're staying above water."

"Thanks," CJ said snuggling in next to him. "Think you're gonna sleep pretty well tonight?"

"Definitely," Josh replied, already dosing off.

"Good," CJ said. Josh fell asleep while CJ lay next to him, begging sleep to come, but not really falling asleep until well after two a.m. Before she finally dosed off herself she thought about the day, but mostly about Josh and how lucky she felt to have him around, making sure she was okay.

TBC