Rating: PG
Pairing: Toby/Donna, with mentions of both with other people
Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'm just playing with them.
Summary: "There's something I've been hoping you would ask me."
Archive: The Band Gazebo, all others please ask first
Notes: This is the sixth installment of the Tempting Fate series.
Previous installments can be found at Jeanine's site:
http://helsinkibaby.ahkay.netotherwise known as The Band Gazebo.
You can write us at Sunny or Jeanine

More notes: Jeanine thanks for helping me clean this up. I forgive
you for being a Cowboys fan. Go Redskins!
Spoilers: Everything up to 20 Hours in America, and it's all AU from
there!

It seemed to her that since she had joined the Bartlett campaign, and
later the Bartlett administration, that every relationship she had
was in some way affected by Josh Lyman. Her romance with Toby Ziegler
was no exception. Little did she know that Josh would be responsible
for affecting the biggest change she would ever encounter in her
life. Donna and Toby had been working colleagues for years, sure
there had been a few times when she had contemplated the
possibilities of a romantic or purely sexual relationship with him,
but for the most part they had merely worked together. She had
doubted that he had even realized that she was a woman.

Toby continued to wear his wedding ring long after the fact that his
divorce to Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt had been finalized. Rumors had
run rampant through the West Wing about the possibility of the pair
reuniting, especially after Leo and Josh had arranged a date between
the two. Of course it had been a working date and not a romantic date
but anyone who saw the two of them together could see that they had a
lot of unfinished business between them.

There also were the rumors of a relationship between Toby and CJ
Cregg. Of course, everyone knew they were friends and had been for a
long time. Toby had been the one to bring CJ into the campaign, had
even gone so far as to fly to California personally to ensure that
she would come. The pair flirted openly and yet kept their personal
lives to themselves. However, when CJ had developed a relationship
with her now dead bodyguard Simon Donovan, Toby didn't seem to care
which led people to believe that there really hadn't been a more
personal relationship after all.

Throughout this time, Donna herself had moved from relationship to
relationship hoping that this one was "the one" relationship to end
it all. Josh continually criticized her long line of gomer
boyfriends, doing his best to point out any and all flaws and
encouraging her to move on to someone else. Many a lunch hour was
spent with the other assistants trying to decipher Josh's motives.
Everyone realized that Josh had feelings for Donna, which he was
afraid to share. For her part, Donna had accepted that she had
feelings for Josh as well but she knew that it would not be wise to
follow through on them.

Working for Josh had made Donna realize what living a lifetime with
him would be like and she knew she had neither the strength nor
determination to make it work. Instead she devoted herself to looking
elsewhere but that didn't stop her from flirting with him when time
permitted. It made her smile to know that she could fluster him with
the slightest provocation. Then Amy Gardner had come along and things
shifted between her and Josh. No more did the banter come as easily
as before. She could see that Josh was struggling to come to grips
with his feelings towards herself and Amy. Knowing this, she backed
away quietly and let him have room to move.

It was during this time that Josh first affected her relationship
with Toby. It had become tradition between her and Josh that every
April he would send her flowers to mark the anniversary of the time
she came to work for him. Not to be confused with the time she came
to work for him in February, then left and later returned, in April.
Donna would yell at him for being insensitive to her feelings and
sending flowers even though he was well aware that she herself wished
to completely forget the time she had left and wanted to pretend it
didn't exist at all. Then she and Josh would banter back and forth
for a while before she would finally give in and tell him the flowers
were beautiful and she appreciated them.

However, last year when he didn't send her flowers and, in fact,
barely acknowledged her presence it hurt her more that the
insensitive gesture of sending flowers. To relieve the pain and
hopefully start anew, Donna had gone to a quiet little bar in the
upscale part of DC with the intention of having a quiet drink or two
before heading home. As she sat on her stool near the corner of the
bar she was surprised when the bartender sat a fresh drink in front
of her. "Compliments of the gentleman in the corner," he told her.
Donna accepted with a smile so as not to appear rude even though she
was in no mood to be picked up by another gomer in a bar. She turned
slowly in her seat and peered across the hazy room to see who had
sent the drink. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized it was
from Toby Ziegler. Gathering her courage she grabbed her things and
crossed the room to join him.

They spent a pleasant evening talking and casually flirting while
sipping at their drinks. Toby had asked why she was drowning herself
in drink and she had been honest with him about the anniversary and
the meaning behind the flowers. In turn she questioned his own
presence at the bar and he had replied that he too had been
revisiting an anniversary. His however had concerned the President,
MS, and the admissions of a possible conspiracy to defraud the
American public. After a drink or two Toby had walked her to her car
then surprised her by presenting her with a single yellow rose that
he had bought from a street corner vendor. Donna returned the
surprise by kissing his cheek before letting him leave.

The gestures of affection surprised them both and Donna had spent the
night dreaming of a handsome bearded man with dark eyes who rescued
her from reality and carried her off to his castle. The next morning
she squealed in delight when she arrived at her desk to find a dozen
yellow roses waiting for her. Josh questioned her incessantly about
the new gomer but for the time being she merely smiled at him and
refused to rise to the bait. The following Friday, Donna returned to
the bar with the hopes of seeing him again but also knowing that he
may not be there.

He was there and she took advantage of his distraction by sending him
a drink before joining him at the same booth. They talked for a mere
minute before Josh loudly called across the room and attempted to
join them. It was only by the sheer will of Sam and Toby that he had
slunk across the room to a place where he could watch Toby and Donna.
Josh's presence made her uncomfortable but that quickly disappeared
when Toby kissed her on the mouth. All thoughts left her head save
for the idea of kissing Toby back. They went on their first real date
the following night, a trip to the Kennedy Center to see a musical
that had been sold out for weeks. She didn't know how he had acquired
the tickets but she had a feeling Sam had been behind it.

Toby had told her on the night before their first date that only
gomers expected to sleep with a woman on the first date so she wasn't
surprised when he declined to stay with her after their evening at
the Kennedy center and dinner. She was surprised that it took them a
month to actually sleep together. Most of their `dates' had consisted
of hastily eaten take-out in his office, private emails and quick
kisses in the hallway. But it had all been worth it the night they
finally slept together and since then they hardly spent a night
apart.

Josh had been less than thrilled about her latest choice of
companions but when hard pressed he had not been able to come up with
a good reason why they shouldn't be together. The teasing from their
colleagues had died swiftly and even the reporters seemed to find it
best to leave them alone. The hardest person to convince that this
was a good relationship had been her mother. Donna spent hours on the
phone explaining to her mother that Toby was a good man, the kind of
man that she would approve of but her mother had been adamant about
her displeasure in her relationship with Toby even though they had
never met.

Though Donna had led Toby to believe that everything was all right
she knew that he knew there was a problem. She hated the fact that
she was keeping something from him but was afraid that if they spoke
about it, one or both of them would decide to break it off and that
was something she was certain she couldn't live with, so she said
nothing. Josh cornered her at one point and spoke to her about it,
citing the fact that she was not concentrating at work and it was
important that she concentrate. The President was gearing up for re-
election and every member of the staff was expected to contribute to
the campaign as well as continue to do their regular job.

Donna made him swear on his father and sister's graves that he would
not say a word to Toby before confessing that she was having
difficulty dealing with all the pressure she was receiving from her
mother. She was surprised when he defended her and Toby's
relationship, countering every objection of her mother's with a
reason as to why it would work. As they finished their talk, he
hugged her and encouraged her to talk to Toby and let him know what
was going on. She promised him that she would and he let her go home
early as she needed to pack for the trip to the convention in New
York that she was accompanying Toby on.

Donna's plans to talk to Toby were quickly squashed that evening. She
was packing their things when he announced that he was going to take
a shower. She knew that he was hoping she would join him as she often
did and in fact she was about to when the phone rang. She picked it
up half expecting it to be Josh or CJ or an assistant telling her
that she and Toby were needed back at the White House and was
surprised to hear her mother's voice. They spoke of common things;
her father, her job, people she knew that her mother thought she
wanted to hear about and then her mother spoke of Toby and her fears
that Donna was making yet another mistake. Donna cried and pleaded
with her mother to give Toby a chance, to get to know him before
judging him, instead her mother hung up the phone after issue a
simple command, "Come home to visit but don't ever bring that man
here."

Donna sat the phone in the cradle, wiped away the tears on her face
and resolved that she would never return home until her mother agreed
to give Toby a fair chance. When Toby emerged from the bathroom he
inquired about the phone call, Donna lied and said that it had been a
friend of theirs wishing them a pleasant journey and a safe return
home. Toby accepted her words but she knew he didn't quite believe
her. She was extremely surprised hours later when they stood in the
middle of the grand ballroom as the President announced his
acceptance of the nomination to run for re-election Toby handed her
the band of gold which had adorned his finger for so long.

"I love you Donnatella Moss, and only you," he said. " No matter what
anyone thinks of me, or us." Her eyes widened in horror, and he just
nodded once, confirming that he knew, that they would talk about it
later, but also that they could work it out together. "I'm no prize
Donna, I know that. And everything your Mom said about me probably
isn't too far off the mark but I love you. It's going to be crazy
around us for the next few weeks, but I need for you to know that. Do
you?"

She nodded in response and accepted the ring knowing all that
mattered was the man who was kissing her senseless uncaring of the
people and cameras surrounding them. Later that night on the flight
home, Josh once again cornered her.

"Did you talk to him?" he asked.

"No," she said then continued on quickly. "But he knows. My mother
called before we left DC to complain once again and apparently he
heard our conversation."

"What did he say?" Josh asked.

She smiled. "He said he loves me and he gave me this."

She pulled the band of gold from her pocket and held it out in her
hand in front of her. Josh looked at it wide-eyed and whistled. "He's
serious."

"Yes, " she nodded. "I think he is."

"Did he ask you to marry him?"

"No. But I think he's going to wait until after the election when
things quiet down a bit."

Josh snorted. "Like things ever quiet down in the White House."

"You know what I mean," she scolded.

He grinned and quickly hugged her. "Yes I do. And don't worry, if
your parents won't come to the wedding, I'd be proud to give you
away."


After that it was a matter of waiting. There had been a campaign to
run, speeches to write and listen to, getting left behind in Indiana
and having to find their own way home, the election and subsequent
celebrations. Toby and Donna had spent many longs days at work,
coming home to collapse in bed sometimes fully dressed and on rare
occasions they found the strength to make love. Either way, they
always spent the night holding each other secure in the knowledge of
their love for one another. And Donna continued to wait.

Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and New Year all came and went and
still Toby had not proposed. Donna clung to the thought that he was
distracted with the idea of writing the State of the Union and
thereby any and all thoughts of romance had been pushed aside. She
had become quite busy as well and had pushed the thought of marriage
to the back of her mind. However, thanks to Josh it would once again
come quickly to the surface and she would be forced to do something
about it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Josh Lyman stormed through the White House heedless of the people
around him, intent only upon reaching his office and finding a few
moments of solitude. He did manage to note that Donna was not at her
desk and surmised, however briefly, that she had not returned from
her lunch hour errands. He slammed the door to his office shut then
crossed the room and slammed the other door shut as well. Except that
the second door bounced back at him and a cry of pain could be heard
from the hallway.

Quickly, Josh looked out the door and found Toby lying on the floor
clutching his left hand and cursing. Josh raised an eyebrow at Larry
who was hovering nearby. "What happened," Josh asked.

"He had his hand on the door frame when you attempted to slam the
door closed," Larry growled. He bent closer to Toby. "Ed went to get
the First Lady. Can I get you anything, Toby?"

"Josh's head would be nice," Toby grunted.

"Toby, I'm sorry," Josh said quickly. "I didn't see your hand there."

"Did you even look?" Larry said accusingly. Josh didn't have time to
reply as the First Lady arrived with her husband in tow. She knelt
next to Toby and pulled his hand up to look at it closely. Josh could
see a red swollen line across the back of Toby's hand where the door
had met with flesh.

"Joshua," the President said quietly. "Do you and I need to have a
discussion about how to close doors properly?"

Josh swallowed hard and shook his head. "It was an accident sir. I
swear."

"I think there's a few broken bones here," Abbey announced. "We need
to get him to the hospital."

"I'll take him," Josh volunteered.

"I don't think so," the President replied. "I'll have a driver take
him."

Ed and Larry assisted Toby to his feet and started to lead him down
the hall under the watchful eye of the First Lady. Toby glanced back
over his shoulder. "Let Donna know where I am. Ok?"

Josh nodded and swallowed hard again. It was bad enough facing the
wrath of the President and First Lady, now he had to face Donna as
well.

"So Einstein," the President said casually. "You better hope he
recovers quickly, there's an inauguration speech and a State of the
Union speech that needs to be written still, who's going to do it?
You?"

"If I have to Sir," Josh nodded bravely.

"Well then, we better start updating our secret plan to fight
inflation," the President teased before walking away.

Josh wiped his face with his hand, let out a deep breath and returned
quietly to his office to await Donna's return. He leaned against the
edge of his desk and stared out the window, mimicking the pose his
assistant had used the many times she awaited his return. The longer
he stood there and waited the worse he felt. Not only could Toby not
type or change his own clothes with one hand, he probably wouldn't be
able to make love to Donna. Not that Josh wanted to take time to
think about Toby and Donna having sex but the thought did enter his
mind.

He had no idea how long he had waited but Donna's blonde head was
finally spotted walking across the secure parking lot. Josh bounded
out of the room and raced down the hall to the entryway and out the
door. He slammed into Donna on the steps, holding her upright by the
elbows as he swung her around.

"Come with me," he ordered as he began to drag her across the lot to
his car.

"Josh," she protested. "I need to check in with Toby."

"I'm taking you to Toby," he said as he opened the passenger door of
his car. She frowned at him and looked over her shoulder at the
building then back at Josh.

"What…" she began.

"There was an accident," Josh said shortly. "Toby's at the hospital."

"What! What happened?" she demanded as she got into the car. Josh
slammed the door closed and raced around to the other side. "What
happened?"

"There was an accident," Josh replied. "He was taken to the hospital."

"Oh my God," Donna cried. She bit her knuckle and tried to keep her
tears under control.

The drive to the hospital was quiet as Donna didn't ask any questions
and Josh feared to volunteer information. He parked the car in a
visitor slot and led her into the emergency room.

"Joshua," CJ yelled menacingly from across the room. Josh and Donna
both looked at her. "Get over here!"

Donna rushed across the room as Josh followed at a slower pace.

"Where's Toby?" Donna demanded. "Is he ok?"

"He's getting his hand x-rayed," CJ said quietly. "He's in some pain
but they gave him some medication."

"His hand?" Donna repeated. "What the hell happened?"

CJ raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Josh. "He didn't tell
you?"

The realization that Josh knew more than he was saying finally dawned
upon Donna. She turned around and glared at him. "What did you do?"

"It was an accident," he said quickly.

She punched him in the shoulder. "You scared the hell out of me! I
thought he was dying or something really bad had happened."

"It's bad enough," CJ intervened. "Josh slammed a door on Toby's hand
and broke it."

"Joshua!"

"I've apologized like a dozen times," he replied. "What else can I
say?"

"You're an idiot," Donna growled. She turned and walked across the
room to sit down. Josh and CJ followed her and sat down as well.

"I'm sorry I scared you," Josh said quietly. Donna nodded and started
to cry. Josh put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her. "Don't
cry Donnatella."

"I was so scared," she sobbed. "More scared than when you were shot.
All I could think of was what the hell would I do if he died. Don't
ever scare me like that again!"

"I won't," he said softly. "I promise."

CJ and Josh returned to the White House leaving Donna alone to wait
for Toby. CJ had given Donna the keys to her car and had ridden back
with Josh. As CJ hugged Donna good-bye, she whispered a promise to
make life a living hell for the Deputy Chief of Staff for the next
few days bringing a smile to Donna's face.

As Donna waited for Toby she had plenty of time to think about their
relationship and the things she wanted from life. She knew that her
mother had wished that she would marry someone young who had money or
a well-paying job, a man who shared the same beliefs that she did and
who would be there to grow old with her. But Donna realized that
while these things would make her comfortable they wouldn't always
make her happy. The only thing that made her happy was the man she
was waiting to take home. If her mother refused to talk to her ever
again, then so be it. She was tired of trying to please everyone but
herself and she was tired of waiting.

She heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Toby being wheeled
down the hallway in a wheelchair grumbling the entire time about how
he was capable of walking like an adult. Donna smiled as the nurse
paid him no attention at all and continued to push the chair. Donna
rose from the hard plastic chair and approached the pair taking
careful note of the splint and large bandage that adorned Toby's left
hand.

"Hey baby," she smiled as she leaned over and kissed him. Toby
stopped grumbling and pouted at her.

"Your boss broke me," he stated.

"I've already given him a few lashes," she replied. "And CJ has
picked up where I left off. Are you ready to leave?"

"Definitely," he grumbled.

"Is he always this charming?" the nurse asked. Donna laughed.

"Can I get out of this thing now?" Toby frowned.

"Sure," the nurse said lightly. Toby mumbled under his breath as he
struggled to stand up. He paused and sat back down.

"That wasn't a good idea," he said airily.

"Uh-huh," the nurse agreed. "The pain medication is going to make you
a little dizzy for a while."

"I can take him home, can't I?" Donna asked anxiously.

"Please do," she replied. "He's driving us crazy!"

Donna drove Toby home and helped him settle into bed before returning
to the White House and dropping off CJ's car. CJ was in the pressroom
so she left the keys on her desk with a note then went to Toby's
office and picked up his things.

"How is he?" Ginger asked. Donna looked at her friend and could see
the genuine concern in her eyes.

"At the moment he's sleeping," Donna stated. "They gave him some pain
medication. It makes him a little dizzy. He'll probably be out for
the rest of the week and return on Monday. In fact, I'll probably
kick him out by Monday."

"Good luck keeping him in that long," Ginger said.

"If I have to I'll get a Presidential order," Donna smiled.

"Are you going to stay home with him?"

"For today at least and maybe tomorrow," Donna frowned. "It depends
on Toby."

"I can help Josh for you," Ginger volunteered. "With Toby gone it
will be a lot slower for me."

"Thanks," Donna smiled as she headed out the door. "I have to go
smack Josh now."

"Have fun," Ginger laughed.

Donna set Toby's things down and began clearing her desk.

"There you are," Josh stated as he popped out of his office. "I need…"

"Call Ginger," Donna said cutting him off. "She'll get it for you.
Toby's fine by the way, thanks for asking. I'm going home to be with
him and I may not be back until Monday."

"Okay." Donna looked up and caught a flash of guilt cross Josh's
face. "If Toby's ok why do you have to be with him?"

"Because he's on medication and he can only use one hand," she
explained. "I may have to help him with some things. Besides, it's
your fault he's hurt so you have to pay too."

"I understand," he said quietly giving her his patented hangdog look.

"Ginger will be here to help you," she said quietly. "And I,
unfortunately, will be a cell phone call away."

"I'll try not to bug you too much," he promised.

"I'm going to finish up and get going," she said. "I don't want Toby
to wake up and find me gone."

"See you later," he said before walking back into his office.

Donna returned home and found that Toby had barely moved. She hung up
their jackets, put away his briefcase and began making dinner. She
woke Toby up a half an hour later and made him eat before he rolled
over and went back to sleep. Donna cleaned up the dishes and settled
onto the couch for a rare night of television viewing before going to
bed and holding Toby close.

The next morning Toby was feeling well enough to join her at the
table for breakfast. He took his time eating his scrambled eggs,
toast and coffee.

"I don't have to go back to work until when?" he frowned.

"Monday," Donna replied while buttering her toast.

"A mini-vacation," he mumbled. "I need to get some work done."

"Wait until tomorrow," she urged.

"We'll see," he said.

"Toby?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"There's something I've been hoping you would ask me."

"You want me to ask you something," he asked. "Have you been taking
my drugs?"

"No," she sighed. "I've been waiting for you for months and I'm tired
of waiting."

"Sweetheart, I'm having a hard time following this conversation."

"Will you marry me?" she blurted out suddenly.

"Are you asking? Or is that what you want me to ask?" he questioned.

"I'm asking," she glared at him. "I'm tired of waiting for you to ask
so I'm asking you!"

"In that case," he said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Yes, I
will marry you."

"You will?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Absolutely," he smiled. "I was going to ask you on Valentines Day,
but I'm glad you asked me."

She squealed in delight and launched herself at him. He had a second
to move his injured hand out of the way before she landed in his lap
and rained kisses on his face.

"I love you Toby Ziegler," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied. "I love you too."


*****