"I'm heading out," Josh said on his way past her desk. "You can go home."

"Okay," Donna said absent-mindedly as she sorted through some files. Then she actually looked at him. "You forgot your garment bag."

He stopped mid-stride and turned back. "Huh?"

"Your garment bag that I had to search for all over creation today?" she said tartly. "You need to take it home with you so you can pack for the China trip. And try not to lose it on the way, please."

"Ah, yeah," he said. "It turns out I'm not going on the trip after all."

"You're not?" She put down the folder she was holding. "Since when?"

"Since a few hours ago. The president wants CJ to go with him, and Toby will be busy wrestling with the press, so someone's gotta stay here and man the fort," he said with false bravado.

"Josh," she started.

"It's fine," he said breezily, cutting her off, then met her gaze.

The look of pain in his dark eyes cut her to the quick. "It's not fine," she insisted. "You worked so hard on this trip. What happened with the flag wasn't your fault."

"It doesn't matter," he said. He leaned against the wall of the bullpen, looking as weary as she'd ever seen him. "I'm off the delegation. Game over."

"Leo wouldn't have --"

"Yes he would've," Josh said. He swallowed, hard. "Just drop it, okay? Go home, get off your leg. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay," she said reluctantly. "You have senior staff at 8 tomorrow."

"I know." He gave her one last look, then walked away, his head hung low, shoulders slumped.

Donna chewed on her lower lip, trying to ignore the fury that was rising up inside of her. You're over-reacting, she told herself. You're getting angrier than you should be, just like you've been doing for weeks now. She took a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth, and started to gather up her coat and her bag, having every intention of going home like Josh suggested.

The next thing she knew she was walking toward CJ's office.

She didn't even pause as she swept past Margaret's desk and walked straight into the office, an office she would never have just barged into when Leo was sitting behind the desk. Luckily CJ was alone, still dressed in formalwear, reading her e-mail. "Donna?" she asked in confusion, looking away from the computer monitor. "I'm sorry, did you need something?"

"An explanation would be good," Donna said, folding her arms over her chest.

"An explanation for..."

"For why you took the Chinese delegation away from Josh," she said.

CJ's eyes flickered with something Donna couldn't read. "Donna --"

"He was so excited to be working on that trip, CJ. He even came in early this morning, spouting badly pronounced Chinese at me. He's worked so hard and was so proud of what he'd accomplished."

"You don't have to convince me of that, Donna," CJ said. "But considering what happened today, I had no choice."

"But it wasn't his fault!" Donna protested.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it was," CJ said. She leaned forward in a way Donna couldn't help but find patronizing. "What mattered was perception. Josh was our point man on these negotiations, and when the situation got fouled up, we had to do something to fix things with the Chinese. These talks are too important for us to waste time and energy worrying about Josh's ego."

"Clearly," Donna said sourly. "I just -- I thought you were his friend, CJ."

"I am," CJ snapped, visibly getting more and more irritated. "Which is why taking him off the delegation was incredibly hard for me, whatever you might believe. But I did what I had to do. And I hardly think you're in a position to lecture anyone about the perils of office duties conflicting with personal relationships."

Donna took the words like a blow, drawing her breath in sharply and placing her hands over her stomach. "I see," she said carefully. Rage swirled inside her, but she tamped it down, knowing that she'd probably gone too far already. "We're back to that, are we?"

CJ shook her head, annoyed with herself. "I shouldn't have said that. Forget I said it. But my decision stands, Donna. Toby and Kate are handling the delegation from this point on. Speaking of which, they're probably going to need copies of Josh's files, too."

Donna choked back a bitter laugh of disbelief. "Anything else, ma'am?"

CJ opened her mouth, almost looked like she wanted to say something conciliatory, then shut it. "That's all. Have a good night."

Donna pursed her lips, spun on her heel, and left.

She ignored Margaret calling her name as she walked by her and headed straight for her own desk, where she retrieved her coat and bag and then started for the exit. On the way out her eye caught one of the TV monitors, which was showing CNN's recap of the Hoynes interview earlier that evening. She stopped in her tracks as realization washed over her.

"That's why Hoynes kept calling," she whispered to herself. He's going to run. He's going to run and he's going to ask Josh to help him do it.

She gripped the straps of her bag, her knuckles turning white, and almost hoped Josh would say yes.

End.