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

Rating: R
Pairing: Kerry Weaver, Kim Legaspi, Maggie Doyle, Randi, ensemble
Spoilers: Yes, yes, and yes. *rolls eyes*
Beta Reader: Scotty Odo Welles

Disclaimer: I don't think so, do you?



"...and you didn't see anything that would indicate that Dr. Legaspi was being anything other than professional?"

Chen shook her head emphatically. "I was in and out of that room the entire time she was in there."

"Maybe you just didn't see it."

Chen set her cup of coffee back on the table as she stared at the woman sitting across from her. "Look, it wasn't just me. Haleh, Yosh, all of us were in and out of that room. Dr. Legaspi just wasn't left alone with her long enough to do anything, much less what they're accusing her of."

"Did you tell this to the detectives?"

"For all the good it did."

Maggie sat forward, catching the glint in Chen's voice. "Meaning?"

"Meaning, they weren't interested. When I told them they closed their notebooks and cut me off."

"Did they really?" Maggie sat back again, looking thoughtful.

"Listen, Dr. Doyle," Chen asked her, "I'm glad to help you but I have to ask, what's your interest in this harassment suit?"

Maggie smiled. "Part of it is I used to work here. The rest is personal..."



"No," said Kerry.

Sigh. "Come on, Dr. Weaver, it's only for..."

"No," said Kerry.

Pout. "I just want to..."

"No," said Kerry.

Girlish plea. "It'll be funnnn..."

Kerry paused. "You mean, the two of us together, letting our hair down, seeing the sights and having all kinds of wacky misadventures as we hit the open road like two carefree gals on the go?"

"Yeah! Doesn't that sound cool?"

"No," said Kerry.

Randi groaned, frustrated by Kerry's intractability. She'd kept quiet during most of the drive, counting herself thankful that Kerry hadn't just pushed her out of the car while it was still moving, into the oncoming traffic lane. Only when they were safely checked into the first motel they came to did she broach the idea of accompanying Kerry on her trip. The motel manager had seen her check in with Kerry, so Randi figured that he'd be a witness for the cops if Kerry checked out alone and Randi's body was discovered later under mysterious circumstances. Given the look in Kerry's eye, it seemed best to take those kind of precautions.

She put on a fierce look of firm determination. "Look, Dr. Weaver, I made a promise to someone who trusts me, and I honor my word. Besides, she's paying me. So I don't care what you say, I am going..."

Kerry lost patience. "Randi, if you don't let me take you to the airport, I will shove my crutch so far up your as--!"

"I don't have any money!" Randi interrupted her.

Kerry stared the desk clerk down. That was the first argument Randi had made that she believed was entirely sincere, but she did not like the almost pleased tone in her voice. "I'll loan you the money," she stated.

"I get airsick..."

"You can take the bus back."

"I'm allergic to the seat covers..."

"I'll buy you an allergy mask."

"If it touches my skin I'll break out."

"Wear jeans and a long sleeved shirt."

"Are you kidding? You want me to risk an allergic attack AND compromise my keen sense of fashion?!" Kerry looked ready to explode, and Randi hastily changed tactics. "Look, I'm not allowed to travel outside the city on my own. It's part of my parole agreement!" Surely Kerry Weaver, of all people, would respect a regulation like that.

"Should've thought of that before you stowed away in the back of my car."

"I was tailing you! I didn't know you were gonna go away on vacation right then!" Seeing that Kerry was unmoved and unconvinced, she dropped the attitude and tried showing some honest vulnerability. "Come on, please? If I get caught coming back to Chicago without you, my probation officer will send me back to jail."

Kerry arched an eyebrow. "Is that a promise?"


Randi glanced away, trying to keep the hurt from her eyes. She'd risked herself, coming on this trip. Dr. Weaver wasn't someone she considered approachable, but she'd always believed that under that hard facet was a gentle soul. Now she wasn't so sure. Honestly, if anyone but Maggie Doyle had asked her...

"I'm leaving at six in the morning," Kerry finally growled. "If you're not up and ready to go, I'll leave without you. Then you can hitchhike home and take your chances for all I care."

Randi stared at the redhead sitting on the other bed in surprise. Weaver met her eyes and scowled, cutting off Randi's joyous yelp before she could let it out.

"And don't think that you're just going to joyride all the way to California," she warned severely. "You're taking the first shift at
the wheel."

"I thought you wanted me to leave. Not that I was giving in."

Kerry shrugged. "I don't want to have to explain to the others why Frank is working more shifts."

Randi was tempted to comment, but decided that under the circumstances that probably wouldn't be smart. "So where exactly are we going?"

"San Francisco."

"San Francisco?" she repeated numbly. As far as Randi was concerned San Francisco was one of the most boring places in California. It rained all the time, and all the best-looking men were gay. "We could go to LA instead. I know this club right on the..."

"No," said Kerry.

Temptation. "We could go to Disneyland...?"

"No," said Kerry.

Rational argument. "I just think that..."

"No," said Kerry.

Wheedling tone. "Aww, but..."

"No," said Kerry.



"Did you talk to them?"

Lieutenant Doyle shrugged. "According to the detectives, all the evidence points to her being guilty."

Maggie sighed heavily and collapsed onto the sofa next to her father. All day she'd been talking to hospital staff, she'd 'accidentally' gotten a look at Legaspi's file on Wallace (she'd covered for one of the filing clerks once when he screwed up, and he owed her one), and everything indicated that Kim Legaspi had done nothing wrong. "What 'evidence'? How do you find 'evidence' in a harassment case? It's one person's word against another's!"

Her father let her rant, knowing she wasn't really talking to him. Maggie's views on sexual harassment issues were something he knew well, and sometimes she just had to let them vent.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out again, Maggie looked at her father and asked a real question. "What do you think, Dad? Is this bullshit, or do they really have reason to think she came onto this girl?"

"I think that they seemed to be very...flippant about it. Everything they told me was either circumstantial, or didn't really prove
anything."

Maggie nodded absently. She felt like she was standing on a bridge that was about to collapse. All the pieces of the case were so messed up and tainted, she wasn't even sure that it could be saved. She'd never met this Legaspi woman, but everything she heard made Maggie believe that she'd never do anything so unprofessional, inappropriate, and downright...slimy. Kerry Weaver, who was as honest as they came, had vouched for Legaspi wholeheartedly, and that alone was enough to put Maggie on the psychiatrist's side. Plus, Weaver had seemed to have some sort of personal investment in the whole affair. Maggie couldn't help wondering if...?

Never mind. The important thing was that Legaspi was getting hit on all sides. Romano, the cops, and Wallace. Which left what...?

A thought struck her. "I need another favor."

Her father chuckled softly. "Why am I not surprised?"



"So why exactly are we going to San Francisco?"

Kerry cracked her eyes open and sighed. According to the bedside clock it was midnight, and Randi wouldn't just lie down and go to sleep. She could practically hear the clerk bouncing excitedly on the other bed. Kerry had always been a morning person, and if Randi was a night owl then she was going to be one of the more aggravating travel companions Kerry had ever had. Maybe she should've paid the extra money to get Randi a separate room after all. "I'm going because I have some business to see about," she muttered, rolling away and burying her face in the pillow.

"Business? You take the first vacation in two years and you're using it for business?"

"Look, Randi..."

"What kind of business?"

"Go to sleep before I decide to make you sleep in the car."

Randi went quiet and stared petulantly up at the ceiling. She had thought that Maggie was overreacting when she'd told her how worried she was. She'd only come on this trip because she'd owed Maggie a favor. Now, she was beginning to feel worried herself.

After counting silently to one thousand, the desk clerk carefully slid off the bed and slipped on her shoes. She took a peek at the smaller redhead to make sure she was asleep, then quietly left the room. She shivered slightly as the chilly wind hit her immediately. Ignoring the voice that screamed at her to go back inside, she walked over to the car and opened the trunk.

She flipped the black leather briefcase onto its back and turned the numbers. The latches popped open on her first try, allowing her access to the papers inside. Sloppy sloppy, she thought, having a briefcase with the same combination as her locker at County. Then again, Kerry probably didn't think Randi knew that number, either...

There were a few folders of paperwork that she recognized as the forms Romano had left for Weaver to fill out. Who takes paperwork on vacation? she thought, and then answered herself immediately. Kerry Fill-This-Out-In-Triplicate Weaver, that's who...

She pulled the letter from the smaller pocket and frowned. It was from Memorial in San Francisco. The letter was on official stationary, she recognized with a smirk. It was the same kind of stationary that they used to reject Romano's application. Randi knew that Romano's surgical work was considered technically excellent, so either someone at the Memorial knew him personally, or he came off as an asshole even on paper.

The smirk faded as she focused on the words. She took a sharp breath and began to search the larger pocket, where she found Weaver's neatly typed and bound resume...



Maggie studied the living room with interest. It wasn't decorated or cluttered, it only had the basic furniture with a number of pictures scattered around. A lazy boy sofa, two reclining chairs, a coffee table and entertainment center. The apartment seemed comfortable and personal without being overdone.

Turning her attention to the pictures, she saw a couple shots of Kim with people who she figured were close friends, others that were older that could've been family, and one with... Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she picked up the picture to study it closely.

It showed Kerry Weaver, dressed casually and seated in an extremely intimate fashion with Legaspi. From the impression of the picture, she figured that they didn't know they were having their picture taken. They were both way too relaxed, not to mention the way their heads were draped together. Bingo, she thought. Male, female, or combination, you see two people who are that comfortable being that close in public,
and you know they're even closer in private.

A slim hand took the picture from her and sat it back down with a gentleness that she didn't miss. The blonde gave her a hard look and handed her the glass of wine. "You said you were investigating the charges?"

Maggie took a seat on the couch, not letting the blonde rush her into any answers. She had a feeling that, whatever the relationship between Legaspi and Weaver, they had hit a rough patch, and Legaspi probably wouldn't appreciate her interference. "That's right."

Legaspi frowned deeply. "I wasn't aware that any other detectives were assigned to the case."

"I'm not a detective...per se." Maggie meet Legaspi's cool gaze. "I've been hired by an outside force to investigate the charges."

"By who? The Wallaces?" Legaspi couldn't restrain a sneer. "What are you, a private investigator or something?"

"No, I'm just doing a favor for a friend."

Legaspi snorted and looked away. "Trying to prove I molested a suicidal girl..."

"Just the opposite. I'm trying to clear you."

Legaspi stared at her for a long moment, searching for some sign of deception. "Why?"

"Because you're not the only one that Romano's screwed over because of your sexuality." Maggie crossed her arms and let Kim Legaspi make of that whatever she liked.

The tall blonde regarded her with cool, appraising eyes, and Maggie could almost feel the force of her intelligence running over her like sensor probes on 'Star Trek'. Finally, a hint of approval gave Legaspi's face a touch of warmth. "What do you want to know?" she asked.



Randi stared at the phone, unsure what to do. The lateness of the hour wasn't a concern; Maggie could be paged at any hour, an occupation hazard of emergency medicine. The only question was whether Randi should be calling in the first place. There was part of her that insisted that she should respect Weaver's decisions and let her live her life how she wanted to. The other half was screaming that Weaver was a stubborn, hot-tempered moron that didn't know a damned thing.

Angry at herself for even considering minding her own business she grabbed the phone...



"So you told her you were gay?"

"She needed to know that being gay wasn't some disease that would ruin her life."

Maggie couldn't help but smirk as she imaged what Romano's reaction must've been to that little tidbit. She seriously liked this woman; it was no wonder that she and Weaver had been close. They were so much alike and so different. They probably contrasted each other perfectly.  "Have you seen about a lawyer yet?"

"No, not yet." Kim sighed. "At first, I just figured it would blow over, and now...it feels like it would be an admission of
responsibility. Like admitting I did something wrong."

"You need to get one as soon as possible. Don't let yourself feel bad about it, you've got a right to defend yourself legally. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for evidence." Maggie stood up and headed for the door.

Kim walked her out and shook her hand. "Dr. Doy...Maggie, I want you to know how much I appreciate this," she said. "I can't tell you how good it feels to have someone fight for me."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Maggie assured her. "Self-respect's a bitch...but so am I."

They traded smiling "goodnights" as Maggie left and Kim closed the door behind her. Maggie waited to hear the deadbolt lock out of habit, then turned away, unable to shake the feeling that there was something missing from all of this. Kim's mention of someone fighting for her seemed to hold real bitterness. It could have meant that the hospital administration hadn't supported her, or that the detectives who investigated the truth of such matters hadn't done so, but Maggie thought it was more personal. Someone very close to Kim hadn't been there for her when needed. Maggie had an idea of who that might be, and she wasn't happy about it.

Filing it away for later she started down the sidewalk for her car, yelping as a vibration shot through her back pocket. She leaned against her BMW's fender and abruptly yanked the cell phone out. "This had better be good..." she barked, then scowled. "Randi, I told you not to call unless it was an emergen... Yeah, so...?"

Maggie went silent as what the dark-haired woman on the other end was saying began to make sense. "All right, well if she that's what she wants then there's nothing we can do about... Yes, I'm being serious!"

She listened impatiently to her 'agent's suggestion, then replied, "I don't think that's a good idea... You do realize that she'll kill
you..."

They debated it a little more, and then Maggie gave up and rubbed at her forehead. "Fine," she said. "It's your funeral..."



"You're going the wrong way," Kerry stated flatly.

Randi squinted at the highway lazily. "Are you sure? Maybe you should look at the map, 'cause I could have sworn...."

"I don't need the map, Randi. The sun's on the wrong side of the sky."

"Well, you know, sometimes at this latitude, and given the time of year..."

"Turn. Around. Now." Kerry narrowed her eyes at the desk clerk.

The desk clerk cursed under her breath and yanked the car across three lanes onto the off ramp. Without slowing, she skidded onto the over bridge and onto the ramp heading the opposite direction. "Okay. You win."

Kerry's mood didn't abate. Last night she'd heard the dark-haired woman leave the room, and this morning she'd discovered her briefcase lying on its back. "We're going to have a little talk, Randi. I was prepared to put up with you coming along as long as you did what I told you. But invading my privacy is completely unacceptable."

"Oh, c'mon, did you really think I wasn't gonna be curious?"

"Randi, I swear, you talk back to me one more time, and..."

"Shut up, Kerry!" Randi exploded. She'd experience plenty of Weaverish bitchiness in her day, but after almost twenty-four hours of constant proximity to it, even she was fed up. "Just because you blew it with the blonde doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"

Kerry slowly glanced over at Randi and stared into her surprised eyes. The desk clerk blushed slightly as she realized what she'd said, and turned back to the road.

"How did you...?" She stopped as the obviousness of the situation presented itself. "How long have you known?"

"About a month."

A month, Kerry thought silently. For the last month, Randi Fronczak, the Gossip Fountain who spread rumors faster than the Internet, had known that she was involved with another woman. The fear that had paralyzed her in Romano's office, and in front of the detectives, took hold of her again, stronger than ever. All her strength, all her anger, all her dignity and authority was stripped away, and all Kerry had left was a kind of naked defenselessness and the exposure of her shameful secret.

When Randi pulled the car over and stopped by the roadside, Kerry almost expected the clerk to throw her out in disgust. She expected hate or anger. She even expected fear and curiosity. But when Randi finally did risk another look at her, all she saw in the younger woman's face was regret.

"I can't believe you just let her go like that," Randi said quietly. "You haven't even tried to get her back."

"What's the point?" Kerry's voice, when she found it, was soft and thin.

"You love her."

She couldn't argue with that, but hearing someone else say it was hard.  "What's that to you?" she countered, weakly.

Randi gave her a shrug and a sad little smile. "I'm a romantic at heart," she said. "What can I say?" She started the car again and they picked up speed.

Kerry turned back to the window, watching the trees go by in almost a trance. I love her, she thought to herself, but...how can I ask her to love me, too...when I don't even love myself?

Aeris Jade Orion
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 " This act hasn't been seen in 20 years, and if i'm any judge of talent it will never be seen again."
- Theres no business, like show business