i went back to re-read this story because i thought i was missing something, then

realized, what the hell...josh isn't the jr. deputy you're writing about. couldn't be, even though josh could piss off even the pope, and things were pretty acidic by the

end of the series, even josh couldn't alienate his co-workers like that, donna would never dessert him, and bartlett would never consider firing him. he'd call josh into the oval and 'discuss' the issues and straighten him out in a calm, fatherly way.

josh is talking to leo via his spirit, he was killed by the bullet at rosslyn. am i right or am i figuring this out all skewjawed?

Bartlet's speech at the end blew me away. Just great. And yeah, I was thinking that this was really strange and OOC...I might have stopped reading it if it hadn't been so well-written. But now I get it! After that, I re-read it all and it all made sense. Great job!

So, I know this is ancient history now, but great story! I've been browsing the archives as it were, and it's been turning up a lot of good stuff-like this. Great job with the the ambiguity-just enough so I wasn't 100% sure josh was dead till part 4 :)

Oh- now I understand. That was very clever- good work!

Damn, i am so glad i didn't send in my first review. basically it was about how confused i was. but then i read some of the others and realized what i'd missed, reread it and, well, i'm still trembling. it was incredible. you did such a great job keeping the twist ending secret. he was dead, leo was seeing his ghost, and the guy who'd been screwing up was Eric. incredible. i'm adding it to my favorites.

...Okay, I really don't have a clue what was going on there. Am I right to assume that Josh did something incredibly stupid and lost his job and now everyone's pissed at him? Or am I totally off? Cuz I am SO confused... Does it have something to do with the shooting? I think it does because of that comment Josh made about smashing his window.

I'm just really, really, REALLY confused.

woah, only figured it out like the start of chapter 4. really good, although kind of sad (in a good way though).

Wow! I've read these kind of ghost fics before, but I like this anyway. For the first four chapters I was trying to think *what* Josh could have possibly done to make everyone so unforgivably angry with him, and then I was OHHH! as you went all Sixth Sense on me. Before, the story seemed out-of-character, but then it made perfect sense. And you did it all so discreetly and subtle-y, you sly one, you. Kudos! :) :)

After reading this story half a dozen times, I have got to tell you that it still packs a punch. Exellent! Holy cow excellent!

*Exhales* I think I've been holding my breath since halfway through chapter 3. This is an utterly, utterly brilliant piece of writing. I raced through this to get to the final chapter and find out what Josh had done, and I have to admire the skilful way in which the story was constructed, because that one had even more of a kick to it than "Meditation".

On a second reading, I'm even more in awe of how you structured this, and enjoyed those hints I managed to catch. There's something slightly clumsy about the POVs at the start of chapter 3, but that only really goes to highlight what a fantastic job you did making the rest of it flow not just convincingly but very well. I think this was excellent.

Twist is nicely hidden - I mean, you see it if you're the sort that looks for it, but if not... and the reactions are convincing, and I liked the stuff with Donna. Cool.

I was shocked to realize what was going on at the end of Part 3, and only got more teary by the time I reached the end of Part 5. How did it happen? I need to find something happy before I'll be able to sleep, I really felt this one. Which I guess is praise for your story telling.

Wow! Amazing! Superb! Excellent beyond all others! You did an excellent job hiding it, and it was an awesome twist! For all of you that can't figure out what exactly happened (I had a little trouble myself) go back over and read the whole thing straight through very, very slowly. You'll get it! (Jana gives lots of little hints!) I know Josh couldn't have really screwed up too bad! Great job!

I can honestly say, I have no idea what this story was about or what happened in it.

Gah! I..ah, gah! Did not see that coming at all, but went back to the start and read it again, and the way you've done it is masterful.