Author's Note: Takes place during season three's The U.S. Poet Laureate with a callback to season one's Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc. My justification for this chapter? The smack down that CJ gives Josh in the office. Naturally I felt Josh would sort of like something like that.

"Dream a Little Dream"

Josh stood outside his office door waiting for CJ to return from the press conference. He'd come back to his office early and he waited impatiently for her to return. It had been a about an hour since she'd marched down to his office to berate him for going in online forums. Although part of him knew she was right to lay into him, there was another part of him that was annoyed that she'd decided to call him out in front of the bullpen and he was going to tell her so.

"Is it over?" Josh asked Donna.

"What?"

"The press conference," Josh replied.

"Yeah. Don't you have a TV in your office for times when you need to know when the president is finished giving a national press conference?" Donna asked as she filed away some folders.

"Where's CJ?"

"Probably walking back over here. Do you need her?"

"No," Josh said, shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning against the wall. "I just need to see her when she gets back."

"Don't yell at her," Donna advised.

"What?" Josh asked with a look of puzzlement.

"I know you," Donna said. "You're thinking about what happened before we left and you're thinking of bringing it up again. Don't bring it up again."

"Donna, I'm not going to bring it up again," Josh said. He paused a moment before adding, "However, if I were going to bring it up again, I think I'd be perfectly justified."

"Josh," Donna warned.

"I'm not going to bring it up again," he said. "You can get out of here if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much done here. I'm just waiting for CJ."

"And you're not going to bring it up again?"

"No, I'm not going to bring it up again."

"Okay," she said, not truly believing him. "When you do bring it up again, just go into your office."

"Excuse me?"

"I know there aren't many people around, but when you do bring it up again, and you will, CJ is probably going to win round two and I'd feel bad for you losing in front of the bullpen again." She gave him a smug smile and picked up her purse from the desk.

"Go home," Josh said.

"I'm going. Good luck."

"What do you need luck for?" CJ asked breezing into the bullpen.

"Claudia Jean Cregg. Just the woman I'm looking for," Josh said standing up straight and picking up step next to CJ.

"Joshua Noah Lyman," CJ replied. "What can I do for you?"

"Could you step into my office?" he asked.

CJ stopped mid-step. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I just need to talk to you about something."

"What did you do?" CJ asked.

"Just…can you come into my office?" Josh asked.

"Okay," CJ shrugged. She followed him down the hallway back to his office and noticed that Josh shut the door behind them.

"This is a closed door conversation?" CJ asked, tossing her purse and coat onto Josh's guest chair.

"Josh?" CJ asked.

"I was going to talk to you about the little conflict we had earlier," Josh started.

"It wasn't really a conflict and I thought it was over," CJ replied.

"As I said, I was going to talk to you about how I thought you yelling at me in front of the bullpen was a little unprofessional," Josh said.

"Unprofessional? Josh, going on a public web site and baiting the public is what's unprofessional. And secondly, I kept my voice at a reasonable level considering the can of worms you opened for my office," CJ started in on him.

Before she could start in on him further Josh quickly moved towards her and closed the space between them with a few steps. He put his hand on CJ's hip and his other hand in her hair pulling her face to his.

Before she knew what was happening Josh was kissing her. His lips covered hers and he felt her respond by pulling her hips into his. His tongue ran along her bottom lip, teasing and tantalizing her at the same time. Her hands ran down his shirt and to his belt buckle. Josh felt CJ's hands and swiftly cupped his hands on her backside, picking her up and perching her on the edge of the desk.

"Josh," CJ said, breathless as he nipped at her earlobe. She paused a moment and Josh could tell she was enjoying the sensation before she breathed, "So we're not fighting anymore?"

"Definitely not," Josh said as he felt CJ's lips on his neck. He decided to run his hand lightly over her thigh. He was very happy that she'd worn a skirt.

"Mi amour," she purred. It had been a long time since she used her nickname for him like that and it made him desire her more.

CJ pawed at his shirt and peeled it off slowly. Josh knew she was unsure of what they were doing because he was equally unsure. For one thing they were in the office and although it was fairly empty the chance of someone walking in was still there. Secondly, Josh was dating Amy. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself.

CJ began to kiss his ear and she murmured, "So what was it you were saying about being unprofessional?"

Josh felt himself smile. "I just kind of wanted to get you in my office," Josh admitted.

"Ah," CJ said wrapping her arms around his neck. "Clever."

Josh inched his hand between her legs and pulled at the elastic band of her panties. "Someone could come in," CJ reminded him, but not stopping him.

"You're absolutely right," he said kissing her again.

"Josh," she sighed. He closed his eyes and took it in. He loved the way his name sounded on her lips.

"Hmm, Claudia Jean," he replied, giving her leg a squeeze.

"Josh," she said again. Her tone was a bit more urgent than before, but Josh just assumed it was her need.

"Josh!" he heard her say rather loudly. Josh opened his eyes to see the top of his desk.

"Hi there sunshine," CJ said.

Josh took in the scene and realized that CJ was leaning against his desk and Josh had his hand firmly planted on her thigh. He also noted a bit of drool on his cheek. He was confused and he looked at CJ hoping she could offer some explanation.

"Good dream?" she asked with the hint of a smile.

"Huh?" he said quickly removing his hand from her leg and making sure his chair was pulled in as close to the desk as possible.

CJ bit her lower lip to suppress a wider grin. "Did you just get back?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I was walking back to my office and I heard you talking in here. I came in to see what was going on. Good dream?"

"I wasn't dreaming," Josh lied as he ran his hand over his face.

"Really? It seemed like it," CJ said.

"I wasn't."

"You said my name."

"I did?"

"You did."

"I might have been dreaming," he admitted.

"A good one?"

"You could say that."

"I made an appearance?"

Josh looked at her and wondered if he could tell her. They were friends. They'd probably share a laugh about it, but ever since he started dating Amy he wasn't sure how much they could actually share anymore.

"You could say you played a very pivotal role," Josh finally said.

"Well you weren't mad at me, I know that much," she smiled.

"How do you know?"

"I heard you say my name. Several times actually."

"That isn't necessarily an indication of the type of dream I was having," Josh protested.

"Oh yeah?" CJ teased him. "Do you wanna head over the mess and get some coffee with me?"

Josh paused for a moment and considered his situation. He looked down at his lap and knew it would be a good five minutes before he could consider moving. "Nah, I'm not really thirsty," he said.

"And it has nothing to do with your dream and the fact that you'd rather not stand up right now?" CJ said suppressing a grin.

"You're really happy about this aren't you?"

"Not as happy as I think you're feeling." She stood up from leaning against his side of the desk and took a seat in the guest chair. She gave Josh a look.

"Okay, fine," Josh sighed. "I was having a sex dream okay?"

"And I was there?"

"You were the main attraction," Josh said a little sheepishly.

"You don't have to be embarrassed Josh," CJ said, as she stopped teasing him.

"You walked in on me having a sex dream about you. That's not embarrassing?"

"You'd rather have sex dreams about me in the privacy for your own home," CJ teased.

"Can we not…dwell on this?" Josh asked.

"Okay," CJ said.

"I should probably add that things with Amy are still going pretty well," Josh added.

"Josh," CJ said.

"Yeah?"

"It was just a dream," she said absolving him of his guilt for dreaming about her and not Amy.

"Yeah. I think it was the yelling," Josh offered.

"Hmm?"

"Earlier, when you came over to my office and yelled at me," Josh clarified. "I think that was what did it."

"Masochist," CJ chuckled.

"Yeah, well, I guess it reminded me of that other day you yelled at me."

"Which day was that? There have been so many."

"The day you were pissed at me for knowing Sam was with a call girl," Josh clarified.

"Ah," CJ said knowingly. "I remember that day."

"You were sitting at my desk with your feet up in that skirt. I gotta say it was pretty hot."

"You called me a Berkley, shicksa, feminista."

"Was that really worse than Yankee, elitist, jackass?" Josh countered.

"No," CJ exhaled with a grin. "I don't suppose it was."

"I don't know how I got through that day. All I could think about was how you bit your lower lip before you thought of the perfect response."

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to put your head through the window or throw you on the desk after that."

"Thank God we had Senior Staff after that or I'd have considered locking my office door," Josh chuckled.

"You can't say we didn't use our passion for certain situations for good instead of evil," CJ laughed. It was a mirthless laugh that left Josh wondering if she really wanted to relive the past. He had a hunch that talking about old time made her a bit sad, but he'd never talk to her about it. At least not now.

"Was that the beginning of things?" she asked.

"Yeah. After the whole Mandy thing during the campaign…don't you remember?" Josh wasn't sure if CJ honestly didn't recall or not, but he knew he had locked every moment of that encounter away in his memory.

"I definitely remember it," CJ admitted. "I guess I didn't realize it was the first time since the campaign."

"It was."

"It was a good time. I can't believe it was the first time since the campaign. Shouldn't have been slightly more awkward?" she joked.

"It was never awkward with us," Josh said a little too seriously for CJ's taste, though she was happy to hear him confirm what she always thought.

After a beat she added, "I think I'm going to think twice about yelling at you again. I didn't realize how it revved your engine."

"Or yours," Josh added.

"Right. What are you still doing here anyway?" CJ asked. "You came back to your office hours ago."

"Well, I fell asleep," Josh shrugged. "How was the thing?"

"You were there. What did you think?"

"I thought he did well. What did you think?"

"It was good. He's ready Josh."

"The president?"

"Yeah."

"Toby isn't so sure."

"Yeah well, it's in the bag. Call it feminine intuition."

"I know not to doubt your intuition," Josh affirmed.

CJ stood up. "I'm going to head over to my office and get a few things done. Have a good night."

"You too. Hey, it wasn't weird that I told you about my dream right?" Josh asked.

"No," CJ waved him off. "I think I could have used my deductive powers of reasoning to connect the dots anyway."

"You don't think other people heard me, do you?"

"No," CJ smiled. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Lucky you," Josh replied.

CJ walked over to the door and said, "Goodnight."

She started to walk out the door when Josh stopped her. "Hey CJ," he called.

She turned and walked back over the threshold. "Yeah?"

"I've missed you lately," he said.

CJ took a moment to let it settle in. "I've been around," she replied.

"You were in Iowa then India," Josh pointed out. "I feel like we haven't really talked much lately."

"Well, you've been busy too."

"I'm glad you yelled at me today."

CJ smirked. "Sweet dreams mi amour," she said before turning out to leave the office.

"'Night Claudia Jean," Josh replied. He watched her walk down the hallway and clasped his hands together behind his head, leaning back in his chair. He wondered if maybe, for a minute, if he fell asleep quickly enough, if he could recapture his dream for just another perfect moment.

TBC