Every Once In A While
Part One
By Aeris Jade Orion
aerisjade@worldnet.att.net

Rating: R
Pairings: Kerry Weaver, Maggie Doyle, Kim Legaspi, Randi, ensemble
Beta Reader: Scotty Welles
Spoilers: Yes. For everything including possible future episodes.
Genre: Drama
Timeline: Post Witch Hunt

Disclaimers: All characters belong to those fab warner Bros studios. The Beatles, well, they belong to themselves.

She'd done it this time. She'd run and run, until she'd lost sight of the one thing in this world that mattered the most to her. Kim Legaspi. Now it was too late. All the apologies in the world wouldn't fix this. All the regret, hurt, and sorrow would only lead to depression. There was no going back.

She dropped her purse and briefcase onto the kitchen table, too worn out to really care about neatness. The dim copper locks popped, and the lid fell open, spilling the contents onto the table and floor. She stared at the mess, unwilling to stop the tears that sprang up in her eyes.

All day, things had been pushing or pulling her, until she felt like a piece of play-dough. Ready to break at the slightest tweak.

Painfully, she bent over and began to carelessly pick everything up. Paperwork, charts, budget reports, job offers...

Job offers...?

She stared down at the letter. A new hospital in San Francisco. It wasn't even due to open until July, and they were still looking for someone to fill the Chief of Emergency position. They were adamant about wanting her, she'd even received a call from the board of director's asking her to interview.

She'd turned them down, of course. As much as she could taste the adventure of launching a new ER, of working in a city that she'd never before been involved with, of knowing new people and working with fresh talent and faces that she could mold...

She shook off those thoughts. She had commitments here.

'Like what? Carter? You already failed him once, you want to stick around and go a second round? Or maybe you're thinking of Malucci? The kid that is constantly jumping patients and cracking insensitive jokes. Oh wait, I know, Corday? The one that now wants you to die. Mark? Hey, you only tried to take his job. Or better yet...Kim?'

Oh god, Kim. How long would she be able to go without running into her at work? A week, maybe a couple of days? 'Only if the charges get dropped...'

She slumped onto the floor, letting the papers slip from her hands. That was the real issue, wasn't it? She hadn't offered a hint of support, her defense for Kim had been less than adequate. She'd felt like a love-struck teenager being faced with her angry parents.

More importantly, she'd failed the woman she loved.



The Bulls were down by a half-dozen points, but Maggie didn't care. Finally, after several nights of busting her ass on overtime and double-shifts, she had a night off, and she was enjoying it. Even the fact that she was currently single didn't bother her at the moment. Maybe if she'd had more time off lately, she'd be out at a bar, looking for someone to spend the night with, but not right now. Tonight, she was happy to pass the evening alone in front of the basketball game on TV, with only a beer and a bowl of popcorn for company. The only thing that bothered her was the twenty bucks she was gonna owe Mike Hanratty if the Bulls lost.

She sat forward eagerly as the ball was caught on the rebound. "Oh yeah, c'mon, go, go, go!" she yelled at the screen as it was dribbled back down the court. The crowd's rising excitement could be heard as it was launched toward the hoop...

Someone knocked on her door, causing Maggie to look away in annoyance. When she looked back at the screen, the announcer was declaring it the finest slam-dunk he'd ever seen in his entire career, and she'd missed it because some bozo wanted to sell her a new deal on carpet cleaning, or something... "Ohhh, MAN...!"

Getting up angrily, she stormed to the door, ready to tear whoever it was a new... "WHAT?!"

"Um...hello, Maggie," said Kerry.

Maggie stared at the open door, unable to hide her shock. It had been a few years since the last time since they'd seen each other, and it hadn't exactly been under the best of circumstances. The short redhead locked older, somehow. The once pixie-styled hair was now a little longer, but with no less... character. There were small stress lines around her face, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Dr. Weaver..." she stammered, taken aback at the appearance of this figure from her professional past. "Uhh, would you like to come in?"

The short redhead seemed to hesitate just inside the door, her eyes scanning the small apartment, before finally stepping just inside the door. Maggie raised a single eyebrow at the jittery woman, then closed the door. Whatever this was about, it would probably be interesting.

Remembering her manners, Maggie clicked off the TV set. "Would you like something to drink? Soda? Beer?" She'd never seen Kerry Weaver in a social context before, and she found herself off-guard, a rarity for her. Stranger still, Weaver didn't seem any more sure of herself.

"N-no, thank you. I'm fine."

They stared at each other awkwardly, waiting for the other to make a move. Maggie managed a polite smile as she rocked slightly on her heels. Kerry cleared her throat and shifted.

"I need your help," Kerry blurted at last.

Maggie stopped rocking and stared blankly at her old boss. The entire time she'd known her, she'd never know Weaver to need anyone for anything. The truth was that she'd admired the feisty woman. She was disabled, short, petite, with a weak voice. But in the end, this woman demanded respect. She demanded your best on a day to day basis, it didn't matter who you were or where you'd come from. What mattered to her was that you were there, and she would be damned if she was going to just stand by and let you feel sorry for yourself.

"Help with what?" she asked.

Kerry hesitated, then said, "Could I sit down? I think this will take some explaining..."



"Wait, let me get this straight," Maggie said, holding up a hand. Romano gets investigated for sexual harassment on not one, or two, or even THREE women and he gets to go on with his life as though nothing was wrong."

Kerry nodded.

"But this woman... Legaspi, right? ...is being suspended until further notice, because she was accused by a depressed teenager that was responsible for countless deaths and injuries...?"

Kerry nodded again.

Maggie let out a disgusted sigh and finished her beer. The world just wasn't fair sometimes. She'd chosen to leave County not long after Romano became ER Chief, and now he was Chief of the whole damn hospital? Wasn't there anyone with any sanity left in that place's administration? "Okay, I get it. Shit happens, life's a bitch and then you die, and all that. What I don't understand is what you need from me, exactly."

Kerry sipped at the soda she'd finally accepted, just for something to clear her dry throat. "Maggie...you remember when Jeanie Boulet got her job at County back?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm the one who put her in touch with those people," Maggie said with a mix of pride and defiance. She knew that Kerry's authority was undermined a little by Jeanie's actions, but she wasn't going to apologize for helping a friend stick up for herself.

"I'd guessed that," Kerry told her, recalling how she'd been forced to swallow her pride as Anspaugh overruled her and rehired Jeanie to avoid a discrimination lawsuit.

"I'd do it again if I had to," Maggie told her.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Kerry replied. She'd been counting on Doyle's sense of righteous anger. It hadn't even occurred to her until later that Romano had been in a worse situation just a few years earlier.

"Look," Maggie told her, in a softer voice, "I didn't mean it as an attack on you, or you authority, or anything like that, Kerry. You know I always respected you."

"I know, and I appreciate that."

"Plus, you really stood up for me over that thing with Romano."

"For all the good it did," Kerry grumbled. "He's in a more tyrannical position than ever, and he knows it."

"Maybe, but I still appreciate your efforts."

There was a short silence between the two women. Maggie wondered if Kerry was disappointed in her for transferring to another hospital rather than work under Romano's rule...?

Kerry spoke again. "Obviously there isn't much that could be done about Robert, and the two detectives assigned to the case... Let's just say they seem less than civil about Kim."

Maggie got herself another beer, then dropped into the seat next to Kerry. "They'll crucify her."

Kerry's face crinkled a little more. "That's what I'm afraid of," she admitted.

"You don't need me to reach out to the people who helped Jeanie," Maggie said. "You could just contact them yourself..."

"No, that's not it," Kerry said. "I could certainly go through all the regular channels."

Maggie nodded. "So why are you coming to me?"

Kerry hesitated, as though stepping out of her usual modes of thought. "What I... What she needs is someone who can investigate the charges without drawing a lot of attention. Someone who doesn't have anything against gays."

That made Maggie's eyebrows raise. "You mean, somebody...off the books? Like, undercover?"

Kerry said nothing, but she didn't frown or shake her head.

"Someone who already knows the crew at County, and has a family in law enforcement?"

"That would help," Kerry admitted softly.

Maggie chuckled softly. She had to admit it was very tempting. To be able to see the look on Romano's face when he got his homophobia shoved right back into his face. But there was something else that gnawed at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"I don't understand..."

"If it was one of your staff I could see you going to this kind of trouble, but she doesn't work in the ER..."

"She's a fellow colleague, and no one else seems to be wanting to help her," Kerry snapped, closing the issue rather obviously. She glared at the younger woman and stood up abruptly. "Look if you don't want the job, then..."

"I never said I didn't want it."

"Well?"

Maggie struggled with the urge to laugh. She'd hit a sore nerve, and there was no way she was going to give up an opportunity to find out just what nerve she'd hit. Not that she didn't already have her own suspicions. "Well," she said, "I'll talk to my father, and ask around..."

"Fine," Kerry interrupted. "This is my cell phone number. I'm taking some time off, and I'll be leaving town in the morning..."

Maggie took the calling card in her hand and eyed the black lettering. "I'll call you in a day or two..."

She trailed off, as the redhead was already out the door. Not so much as a goodbye. Kerry Weaver could be distant and uncommunicative, but she was usually at least polite.

Unless she was scared...

Maggie flexed the card in her fingers, trying to think of how she would go about accomplishing things for Kerry. Her upbringing in a cop family, combined with her contacts in the gay and lesbian community and her medical career, had allowed her to build up a wide and varied number of friends and associations, who were capable of any number of things. Surely, with all of them to choose from, she could find someone who could help Kerry and her...colleague.

The remainder of the basketball game went unwatched. Maggie had too much on her mind. She was definitely curious, and more than a little worried.

'Fellow colleague, huh? Methinks the lady doth protest too much...'



Randi sighed with relief as the ER doors closed on Greene yelling at Malucci. The poor guy had been on the receiving end of his bad attitude recently. To make things worse, Weaver had decided to take her first vacation in two years. All around, she wished she had called in sick today.

"Hey, Randi..."

She turned to the familiar voice, slightly surprised to see Maggie Doyle here. The young resident had quietly left county after the Romano incident. "Hey, Dr. Doyle," she said, brightening. "What brings you 'round here? Homesick for the old neighborhood?"

Maggie shook her head, in no mood for kidding around. "I need a favor."



Kerry reached over and pressed the skip button on the CD player, the lively rock music booming through the car. Not many people knew it except Kim, and some of her former boarders like Carter, but Kerry actually liked all kinds of music, it just depended on her mood. Sometimes she needed to hear some classical or opera, but most of the time a good rock song, or R&B tune, was just as good.

She had been driving for a good four hours, and the upbeat music was exactly what she needed. She leaned comfortably back in her seat and began to sing along. "She would never be free...when I was aro-o-ound," she sang. "She's got a ticket to ride, she's got a ticket to ri-hi-hide..."

Picking up her cup of coffee she took a long sip, taking a quick glance in the mirror...

"...and she don't care," sang a new voice.

"JEEPHURPH...!!" She swallowed half the mouthful of hot liquid, the other half spraying out over her dashboard. Coughing violently, she swung the car over onto the roadside, slamming on the antilock brakes. The passing cars honked loudly while she skidded to a stop that left a smell of burning rubber around them. Managing a semi-sane thought, she placed the cup back in its holder and spun around to glare into the back seat.

The pair of dark brown eyes was regarding her with surprised interest. The brunette seemed to be trying to decide something. Finally she smiled at her. "Beatles fan, huh? I always knew you weren't as uptight as you let on."

Kerry stared at the clerk, goggle-eyed, trying to figure out if she was still asleep, or maybe even in another dimension. "What the HELL are you doing in my car?!"

"Sleeping." Randi grinned and held up the blanket that she'd been using. "You know, you should really check your back seat before you get in your car. You never know who might be back here...."



Aeris Jade Orion
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