'Under Control' - PG-13
'This Rocky Path' - PG-13
'The Healing Season' (NC-17 version - you must be over 18 to read!!)
'More than the Sum' - PG-13

Disclaimers: Characters belong to Aaron Sorkin and not to me.

Rating: A heavy PG-13 (for mature themes)

Archive: Take it. Just let me know where you put it. If anyone would like to archive the whole series that would be fab.

Synopsis: Josh and Donna's relationship has become physical, but will it magically heal them?

More Than the Sum

By Lacy

I'll lie here in his arms until he wakes. I can feel his breath on the back of my neck. It is slow and even, and a gift for which I could never thank God enough.

We made love in the morning light and fell asleep afterwards, our bodies tangled together.

A small part of me says that I should feel uncomfortable with this. I should worry about what this means for the future. I should worry about how this will affect our work.

But I can't. I won't. I think I've had enough worry to last me a lifetime -- maybe even two. I can't be afraid of what tomorrow will bring. Or what Leo will think. I won't try to figure out how CJ could possibly put a spin on this -- on us. We are more than the sum of our jobs. We'll have to be.

The cadence of his breathing changes and his hand on my abdomen pulls me closer. He's awake now. He kisses my shoulder and I think he's inhaling my scent. I reach for his hand and our fingers cling to one another. I want to see his face when he looks at me. And see his eyes so I can know what he's thinking.

I turn in his arms, and when we're face to face I know that he has no regrets.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey," I respond. It might take us a while to get back to our usual banter form. Our fingers are still intertwined and he looks at them as though trying to imprint the sight of it on his brain.

He leans in to kiss me. I'm amazed at how well our lips work together. I think, in some cosmic space and time our lips were broken from a single mold. Kissing him will never grow old, not even as we do.

"It's late, Josh." I pull back to say. The clock I have been looking at for the last half hour, while lying in his arms, reads 11:30.

"I don't care." His lips are on mine again.

I know that he has an informal meeting this afternoon with one of Senator Perry's aides. "Two o'clock," I remind him. "In your office." He looks at me with utter confusion. "You have a meeting."

"I'll cancel it."

"You can't cancel, Josh. I've had to reschedule it three times already."

"Can't we just lie here for a little while longer?"

"You have to go home and take a shower, and change your clothes."

"Are you kicking me out of bed?" He's pulled away from me. He's serious. He really believes that I've had my nasty way with him and I'm now sending him on his way.

"Josh--"

"Don't say it, Donna. You wanted this. I know I wasn't wrong." I can't remember the last time I saw insecurity stamped so clearly on his face. I don't think I ever have.

"Not wanted, Josh. Want. I wish we could spend all day in bed together, but I don't think the President would appreciate us sleeping -- or not sleeping--on the job." I laugh and it feels good. Josh's shoulders relax where they'd been tense only a moment before. "You only have the one meeting this afternoon."

"Will you come in?"

"Will you bring me breakfast? I have nothing to eat in the house," I explain. I find that I am suddenly famished. The 'digestive' problem I've been having for the last three weeks seems to have decided to take a much welcomed vacation.

"So, I'll see you again at...what...1:15?" I think he's afraid to me let me out of his sight. I remember the feeling.

"I'll be there with bells on," I promise.

"Forget the bells. Just be there."

"Yes, Mr. Lyman." I say this in a ridiculously seductive voice. As if I am his to command.

"Were you just flirting with me, Donnatella Moss? Was that tone in your voice a flirtatious tone?" He throws the covers back and slides off the bed. I feel suddenly lonely.

"It wouldn't be the first time, Joshua." He's stalking around my bedroom, naked, looking for his clothes, which ended up in different corners of the room.

"Yeah, but now it's different," he says, putting on his boxer shorts. I watch this as though I've never seen a man dress before. I've never seen this man dress before -- not from where I'm sitting, anyway.

"Why is it different?" I ask.

"Because now it actually means something." He leaves his pants unzipped as he dons his undershirt and slides his arms into the sleeves of his blue dress shirt.

"It didn't mean something before?" I think my voice just cracked.

"Let me rephrase that," he says. "Before, it meant a lot of different things, but we really couldn't dwell on it. Now, I'm going to be thinking about how you said 'Yes, Mr. Lyman' all day. I'm never going to be able to concentrate. Now, flirting will lead us here." His mouth snaps shut as though he's just realized he's said too much. He looks away from me as he begins to button his shirt.

"Josh?"

"What?"

"What is it, Josh? You're brooding."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. You are brooding. Complete with the forehead wrinkles."

He clears his throat. "Is that what you want, Donna?"

"The brooding? I could live without it, Josh. The wrinkled brow is cute but the brooding vibe, not so much." The joke goes over like a sopping dish rag. Splat.

"No, the other thing."

The unsure expression on his face has caused me to forget what we were talking about. "The other thing?"

"The flirting?"

"Yes."

"About the flirting...and the possibility of it leading here."

"Here, here?" I indicate the bed.

"Yeah."

"You're asking me if I want our occasional forays into flirting to lead to sex?"

"I think...yeah...that's what I'm asking." Joshua Lyman can be so dense sometimes. I climb out of the bed without bothering to untangle myself from the sheet, but instead taking it with me. The room is chilly without Josh lying next to me, so I wrap the sheet around my body as I approach him.

"Josh," I say as seductively as I can with a straight face. "Our flirting is going to lead to a lot of places."

He seems to like this concept, so in typical Josh-fashion, he runs with it. "What places would those be exactly?"

"Well, your place, for one. And I've always wondered what would be like to make love at the Lincoln Memorial."

"You have?"

I hedge. "Well, okay, I'm suddenly wondering what it would be like to make love at the Lincoln Memorial."

"Okay, that could get us into a lot of trouble," he says, pulling me into his arms.

"I'd like to see CJ try to put a spin on that one."

"I can smell the Congressional hearing already." We laugh together at his joke. I don't even wonder how we can find the thought of a Congressional hearing funny.

"Seriously, Josh. I don't regret making love to you this morning. I don't think I ever will. And I'm hoping for a lot more mornings like this one."

"Me too," he sighs. "I don't know how we're going to make this work, but we will figure this out."

"I know." Barefooted, I am three inches shorter than he is. I reach up and pull his head down so that I can kiss his lips. My feet abruptly leave the ground as he lifts me into his embrace, his strong arms enveloping me. My arms wrap around his neck and our kiss deepens. I groan when I have to withdraw from him. "You have to go, Josh."

He begrudgingly sets my feet on the floor and I lightly shove him in the direction of the living room and the front door.

"Don't forget breakfast, Josh," as I hold up the coat he placed on the hanger last night.

"It's noon, Donna. I think it's almost time for lunch."

"But I'm craving breakfast." I open the door, careful to shield myself from possible passersby who could catch an unwarranted glimpse of me in my bed sheet.

"Breakfast it is, then." He lingers for a moment at the door. "See you in a bit."

"See you in a bit." I echo as I close the door softly behind him.

I'm halfway across the living room when the knock sounds on the door. "Josh!" I feign frustration, but really I'm laughing inside.

"I forgot something," he says when I open the door. His hand still hovers in knocking position.

"Your car keys?"

"No." And before I can guess again his lips are on mine for a rough and passionate kiss. He withdraws to look in my eyes. "I love you, Donna."

"I love you," I whisper back. The honesty in his voice brings tears to my eyes and my heart is palpitating.

He steps back into the hallway and a wide grin splits his face. I think, for a second my heart stopped altogether. I could never resist that smile. It must be the dimples. I wave goodbye to him, not trusting the strength of my voice, and close the door behind him.

I head back to my room to take a shower so that I can dress and meet Josh at the office by 1:15. I can't remember the last time I felt this good.

****


TBC