Flashpoint
Part Three
By Cathy and Clotho
huntersglenn@yahoo.com - clothomoerae@hotmail.com

The characters and situations of ER are the property of Warner Bros, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Great thanks, as always, to Melissa and Alice, our editors - whose comments inspire and encourage us (and occasionally bring us crashing back to earth).



John nodded. "Me, too." He got to his feet and
started to gather up the trash. "Do you want to keep
your drink?" He still had most of his and was
reluctant to toss it into the garbage. "You never know
when you might get hot."

Kerry had barely started it. She nodded. "Sure."
That was the sensible thing to do. "So what now?"

"Now?" John looked around and spotted the Ferris
Wheel, which reminded him of the rides. "Now we have
fun. We came here to ride, so let's ride."

Kerry nodded. "We ride." She looked around - there
was the giant Ferris Wheel, and other things. The
first thing that caught her eye was a hoopla stall. It
wasn't a ride, but . . . "What about that?"

Sure." They headed in that direction.

Kerry grinned. "I used to be good at this. It's all
in the wrist." She paid a couple of dollars and
received three small cane hoops, about the diameter of
her hand in return. She stood upright, looking over
the edge of the stall towards the small raised
platforms - slightly under the diameter of a hand -
which each held some toy. "Where're the good prizes?"

John smiled. "That depends on what you consider a
'good' prize. There's a stuffed animal to the right
over there. A bracelet in the middle. It's your
money, so you get to chose the prize that you won't
win." John knew that these type of things were set up
to be nearly impossible to win on the first or second
try. It was most likely cheaper to go out and buy one
of the prizes than to try to win one. But, half the
fun was in trying, so who was he to deny Kerry her fun?

Kerry looked and considered. She didn't really want a
pink and purple stuffed elephant - and she definitely
didn't want to carry one round for the whole evening.
She grinned at John, hearing his disbelief at her
prowess in his words, "I'll win the bracelet." She
handed him her soda and set to work. Her first hoop
went to the left, and nearly claimed a cheap digital
watch and the second a little far back.

Kerry looked closely, and judged the angle for her
third attempt, then launched the little cane hoop in
the air. It sailed up and towards the pedestal. It
began a smooth descent. It veered to neither the left
nor the right. It landed, but in the last second
caught on one corner of the pedestal. Kerry held her
breath, willing it to fall off. No luck, it stayed
there solid, and firm.

Breathing out with a gusty sigh Kerry searched for
another two dollars.

John watched Kerry with an amused expression on his
face. She looked so intent as she took aim for the
fourth time. As the hoop sailed through the air, he
held his breath, willing it to land where Kerry needed
it to go. She had worked so hard already for that
bracelet and he wanted her to have it, and not just
because it was a cute little bauble. They both knew
that she had already spent more money than what the
bracelet most likely sold for. But Kerry needed the
validation of being able to obtain it herself.

Kerry scowled with frustration as the hoop missed yet
again. Yes, it was silly. But she wanted it. She'd
always been able to get prizes from these stalls in the
past. She took her fifth ring and aimed again.

John watched as the hoop sailed through the air. This
was the one, he just knew it. Sure enough, it landed
encircling the pedestal and John broke into a wide
grin. "You did it, Kerry. Congratulations." He was
still grinning as the man behind the counter gave Kerry
her prize and then asked him if he would like to take a
chance to win a prize. John shook his head. "Some
other time." And then they were off to the next stall
to see what was going on there.

Kerry clasped the bracelet around her wrist. It was
just a stupid little thing but she was absurdly pleased
with it. Little pieces of coloured glass (or more
likely plastic) glittered on an aluminium base. It was
cheap, it was tacky, and she liked it. She smiled
broadly at the people milling in the carnival
atmosphere around them.

They were shooting at targets in the next booth, which
reminded John of the time Maggie Doyle had taken him to
the gun range for the first time. That evening had
been a disaster, but after a few months of practice and
a lot of coaching from Maggie, John had finally gained
some proficiency with a gun. He was pretty sure he
could take out the little plastic ducks with a stream
of water. "See anything here you like?" he asked
Kerry, willing to try to win her something.

Kerry looked at the range of prizes. There were
stuffed toys, and more cheap jewelry - nothing as
pretty as her tacky bracelet though and . . . "Yeah, I
might try for that travelling chess set." It would
just be cheap plastic but it was fun to try and win
things. Her eyes held the gleam of acquisition as she
fingered her bracelet.

John's eyebrows raised as he heard Kerry say "I." He
laughed. "I think I made a mistake in letting you come
over to these booths. We might be here all night
before you get tired of trying for prizes." It didn't
bother him that she wanted to try to win the prize,
what did bother him was that she didn't even think that
he could win it for her.

Kerry's face fell. She was determined not to slow him
down this evening. And here they were, barely started,
and he was complaining already. Maybe she shouldn't
have come. It had been fun up till now, too much fun.
It wasn't even that she particularly wanted the
chess-set, it had just seemed a good thing to aim for.
She could easily enough buy herself a far nicer one any
time she liked. Kerry half muttered. "Sorry." Then
she spoke louder, "Where do you want to go next?"

John was confused by the change that came over Kerry's
features after he spoke. Maybe she was doubting her
shooting abilities? "I thought you wanted to try for
that chess set," he said. Then he got bold. "Or, if
you'd like, I could try to win it for you."

Kerry shook her head. "If you like. I chose the
hoopla, you choose the next stall." That was fair.
That wouldn't slow him down.

Staying where he was, John looked around him. Of all
the stalls he could see, he stood the best chance of
winning something at this one. "This is good." He
looked at the rules; seeing that he would need to shoot
down ten ducks in a row if he wanted that chess set.
And he wanted it for Kerry. He stepped up to the
counter and paid the man, then took a spot beside a boy
who was desperately trying to hit a duck -- any duck.
The boy had obviously been having a good time on the
Pier because his face and shirt bore the remains of all
he had eaten.

"Good luck, mister," the boy said as he took a break
from his shooting. "This is a tough one."

"It looks hard," John agreed. "Have you won anything
yet?"

The boy shook his head. "I only have five dollars to
spend on games and so far I've spent four on this
one." Like the hoopla stall, the cost was $2.00 a
try. "I really want that tiger up there." The boy
pointed to a stuffed tiger that hung on the side of the
tent. It only took five in a row to win that prize.

"Good luck," John said.

The boy nodded. "Thanks. I need it."

John knew that most people tried to fire quickly in
their attempt to take out the row of plastic yellow
ducks. But he decided to be slow and methodical. He
took a deep breath, aimed at the one in the middle and
started to fire. It went down, as did the ones that
followed it. When John was finally done, having shot
down far more than ten in a row, he saw a dejected look
on the face of the boy.

"No luck, huh?" John asked.

The boy shook his head. "Nope. You did good though.
What'ya gettin'?"

John looked at the vendor. "How many points do I
have?"

"Fourteen," the man replied.

"I see." John looked sideways at Kerry, then down at
the boy. Then he looked up at the traveling chess set
and the tiger. "I'll take two of the tigers." That
would use up ten points, and there wasn't anything up
there that required four points. The vendor handed the
tigers to John, but when John looked around, he saw
that the boy had walked away.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back," John said to Kerry as
he handed her one of the plush tigers. He stepped away
from the booth, his eyes scanning the crowd until he
saw the boy walking away, his head hanging low. John
caught up to him.

"I think this tiger needs a home with you," John said
as he held the tiger out to the boy.

The boy's face lit up, but then he frowned. "Thanks,
mister, but I can't take that. You earned it."

"I earned two of them and what do I need with two? Go
on and take it."

The boy accepted the tiger and then firmly grasped it
to his chest. "Thanks, mister." "

"You're welcome. Have fun."

Kerry hung onto the tiger, stroking its fur. There was
no doubt that John Carter was a kind man. The crowd
was getting denser. Some of the afternoon families
with small children giving way to teens dressed in the
latest cool clothes. The sky was darkening and all the
lights were a little bit brighter. People moved around
her, buffeting her slightly in their passing. It was
turning into a carnival night. She grasped her crutch
a little more firmly and waited for John to return. A
crowd, at night, alone, wasn't somewhere she enjoyed
being. She saw Carter returning tigerless and smiled.
The beast had obviously gone to a good home.

"Sorry about the chess set. I know you wanted it,
but..."

Kerry smiled and touched John's arm briefly. "I think
that tiger will get more use than the chess set would
have." She looked around, trying to see where they
could go next. "Clown faces?" She'd never been any
good at them - she didn't think anyone was, but they
were fun.

"Why not?"

Kerry smiled, and lead the way through the thickening
crowd to the booth where brightly coloured clown faces
sat with open mouths and slowly turned from one side to
the other. She put the tiger down and ferreted in her
purse for some money, receiving in return 6 ping-pong
balls.

She peered down at the enclosed box that substituted
for each clown's stomach, and looked at the numbers
then the prizes. As always best prizes were reserved
for people who got all their balls into either the
lowest or highest slot. "I loved this when I was a
kid, because no matter how badly I did, I always won
SOMETHING."

Kerry fed her balls into the mouth, and watched as they
bounced around, eventually she ended up with a total of
17 - a far cry from the 6 or 60 needed for the best
prizes. She looked up at the stall owner expectantly,
and was given a box of white chalk for her efforts.

She looked half questioningly at Carter - he'd done
very well on the shooting, then she paid over another
two dollars for him to have a go.

John grinned at Kerry as he accepted the balls from the
vendor. "I was never very good at baseball, so here
goes nothing." A little while later, he was standing
there with a box of colored chalk in his hand. "I
don't know if this is a good thing or not," he said to
Kerry. "I suppose that we could do some sidewalk art
when we get home." John looked around at the other
booths, but most of the rest held large prizes. He
didn't think he wanted to tote around a huge stuffed
animal the rest of the night. "My turn, right?" he
asked Kerry.

Kerry grinned. "Maybe you could colour inside my
lines?" Then flushed. She hadn't meant that to sound
suggestive - but somehow it did. She covered her
confusion by nodding demurely, and saying, "Yes your
turn."

John felt his own face flush along with Kerry's as an
image of the two of them naked on her bed, body paint
at the ready, entered his mind. He cleared his
throat. "How about a ride or two now?"

Kerry grasped at the idea. "A ride sounds good." Then
realised a different image came into her mind - no
chaste ghost train but Carter riding her, up and down,
rhythmically. She shook her head, not the image she
wanted to have of her boarder.

"Okay, how about the Tilt-A-Whirl? Is your stomach
calm enough for that?" He asked, teasing her.

Kerry grinned back, that sounded safe. "Sounds great.
It's you who's got the weak stomach."

"Only when I'm nervous," John said. "And I'm not
nervous now. Come on." He led the way to the ride,
throwing their drinks into a well-placed trash barrel,
and they got in line. The line was moving fast and
they were soon belted into a car, ready for the ride to
start. The ride began slowly, lifting them into the
air, and then it gained speed as it twirled. Kerry was
slowly being pushed against his side, and he could feel
the warmth of her body as it touched his. And when the
car itself began to turn round and round, Kerry was
thrown up against him. She was laughing but he was too
aware of her nearness to laugh. Too aware of how good
it felt to have her body pressed up against his. Too
aware of his burgeoning erection. An erection he
didn't want her to notice.

"Close your eyes," John said into her ear. "It's much
more intense that way."

Kerry looked at Carter. She usually rode rides with
her eyes wide open, seeing all she could. But she was
willing to try this new way.

She shut her eyes. There was the summer air slightly
cooling against her skin. And Carter's body pressed
tight against hers. Very tight. She could feel his
warmth through the two layers of thin clothing, almost
like the cotton wasn't there at all.

She gave a little mewling sound deep in her throat.
She shouldn't be feeling this at all, and she
definitely shouldn't be enjoying it. But she was, and
if Carter didn't know, then surely no one would be hurt
by it. Everything could go back to normal tomorrow.

Kerry kept her eyes tight shut and relaxed into the
pressure.

John also closed his eyes, but not to enjoy the ride.
He was willing his body to obey his orders. But as the
ride slowed, his body was still too conscious of the
pressure of Kerry's body against his. And it didn't
help matters any when the ride came to a stop and Kerry
didn't hurry to move away from him.

John opened his eyes and looked over at Kerry's face,
surprised to see that her eyes were still closed
although there was an interesting expression on her
face. And when her eyes finally opened he could have
sworn that the first look he saw in them was one of
desire and not one reflecting the thrill she felt from
the ride. It was with great reluctance that he averted
his gaze from hers.

Carter's eyes were warm deep pools of chocolate, and
they were looking straight into hers when she opened
them. She could drown in them. When he looked away
she shook her head, telling herself firmly *Kerry
Louise Weaver fantasizing is one thing, staring is
another.*

Kerry leaned forward briskly reaching for her crutch,
trying to ignore the body attached to those eyes, and
stood up. "What next?" When she moved forward the
dizziness of the ride caught up with her and she swayed
for a second.

John instinctively reached out to steady Kerry. It
wouldn't do to have her fall out of the car, even
though they were only a few feet above the ground.
"One bad side effect to closing your eyes on this ride
is that you get more dizzy than if you don't." John
said as he waited for Kerry's equilibrium to return.
As soon as her body stopped moving, he removed his
hands from her waist.

"I think that it's your turn to chose." The attendant
was now to their car to unlock the door so they could
get out. John hopped down, then waited to see if Kerry
needed any help navigating the small jump.

"Oh." Kerry wasn't sure if she liked being dizzy. It
wasn't good to need Carter's hands around her waist,
but it was very good to have them there. She took his
offered arm as she got down. And glancing down she saw
that his pants were tented. Her eyes held the sight
for a moment before she forced herself to look away.
"Um, the ghost train?" That was the first thing that
came to mind. She looked at him indecisively, most of
her mind still on that erection. "Or the merry go
round?"

It wasn't for her - it couldn't be. There were lot of
half dressed teenage girls around. It could be for
them. Or some of the older ones - past the age of
consent. It would be for them. It would be polite for
her to leave, so he could try to pick one up. But she
didn't want to leave. And who knew what diseases they
might have? Might give him? Would it really be so bad
to pretend it was for her?

John couldn't help but notice how Kerry's nipples were
poking at the fabric of her shirt. He just wasn't sure
if that was a remnant of the desire he had seen in her
eyes or if it was from the wind that was starting to
pick up a bit. He wasn't sure if the wind was a cool
one, but it certainly felt refreshing against his
flushed skin.

John looked up at the sky, noting that it was dark
enough to thoroughly enjoy the ghost train. "Ghost
train it is then. I think it's over this way." If he
was lucky, Kerry might snuggle next to him on that
ride. Not that she would be scared. John thought she
was far too pragmatic to be scared by anything on that
ride. But it would be nice if she did snuggle next to
him.

Kerry followed John's lead to the train. And advantage
of the foot or so of height he had over her was that he
could navigate through crowds with apparent ease.

The queues were getting longer, and they had to wait
for a few minutes. Kerry couldn't help glancing
occasionally down at that erection. It made her wiggle
a bit where she stood. And lick her lips.

It was a lovely evening, and John too, seemed to
content to stand here, holding the stripy tiger without
talking. They got into a little car eventually, pushed
close together - that was nice. Kerry rested her
crutch over their knees - the carriages were designed
for slight teenagers rather than 6-foot men tall, and
they were cramped for room.

Then, with a groan of rusty hinges, the house of
horrors opened in front of them.

Being crammed in the small car with Kerry was doing
nothing to make John's erection abate. He had been
hoping that the ride would do the trick, but nothing
would help as long as Kerry's body was pressed up
against his this way. And Kerry had noticed his
erection. He had seen her looking at his crotch. And
seeing her watching him had only made him harder.
Damn. John began to wonder if there were any water
rides at this small carnival? Something that would
splash him -- or even a dunking tank? A cold water
shock would certainly calm down his wayward body.

With his thoughts on ways to get his body back under
control, John was taken by surprise when a black
shrouded figure dropped down from the ceiling, coming
to a stop just inches in front of and over his face.
He jumped, then laughed at himself for being scared.

Kerry laughed at John's shock then found herself
screeching too as they plunged into total darkness and
cold, damp, finger-like things brushed over her face.

By the time the ride ended, John had his wish. The
near constant laughter, aimed at both himself and Kerry
over their reactions to the ride, had done what his
willpower had not -- made his erection abate. Once
back in the crowd, John looked around. "My turn to
pick. How about that one?" John pointed to a water
ride. They could see the boats, only large enough for
two people, coming out of a dark tunnel. It wasn't
until they were at the line that John saw that he had
chosen the Tunnel of Love. "Sorry," he laughed. "It
didn't occur to me what this ride was. I can pick
something else if you don't want to go on this one."

Kerry shrugged up at John. "It's your pick." She
couldn't help but notice that his erection was gone.
Get alone in the dark with her, and it had gone. But
she wasn't about to argue. She was here for a fun
night with a friend, that was all. And just because
she'd enjoyed being pushed up against him - well it
didn't mean the reverse was true. She nodded again, a
tinge of sadness in her voice. "Your pick."

John considered it for a minute. It would be nice to
just sit and not have to worry about getting dizzy or
things dropping down the back of his neck. "We'll stay
in line."

About ten minutes later, they were settled into a
boat. Like the little cars on the ghost train, there
wasn't much space and the two of them were touching all
along their sides. It was uncomfortable to sit there
with his arm trapped between his and Kerry's sides, so
he lifted it up and out, draping it on the back of the
seat, although what he really wanted to do was to wrap
it around Kerry's shoulders. Their boat entered a
darkness that was barely relieved by soft colored
lighting that shone upon hearts and cupids. A very
relaxing ride, John thought as he found himself staring
at Kerry's profile. And definitely made for kissing,
he thought, although he wasn't sure if the thought was
directed at the ride or at Kerry's lips. But he found
himself leaning in toward Kerry, and his arm did go
around her shoulders as his lips softly brushed hers.

Kerry moved automatically into the kiss. The arm
around her shoulders tightened, and she felt his breath
on her face. Then she opened her lips slightly and
returned the kiss.

When Kerry's lips parted, John gave himself more fully
into the kiss, making full lip contact and letting his
tongue slip inside her mouth. They were still kissing
when the boat came to a stop and an amused voice told
them they had to get off the ride and let other
lovebirds have a chance at some privacy.

They broke apart abruptly, and John knew that his face
was flushed. He got out first and then helped Kerry
onto the small dock. "I don't know about you," he
finally said as they walked away from the ride, "but I
could use a cold drink right about now."

&&&&&&
End of Part 3
&&&&&&