Title: More Than Time
Author: Cathy Roberts
Email address: huntersglenn@yahoo.com
Date:  March 7, 2002
Rating: G
Archive:  Ask first please
Spoiler:  Yes, for Season 8, most especially the episode "Secrets And Lies"

Disclaimer: "ER" and all its characters belong to Warner Bros.  No
infringement of their copyright is intended.  This story was written for
the enjoyment of "ER" fans everywhere, and may be downloaded for your own
pleasure.  However this story may not be used, distributed or archived
without the permission of the author.
Summary:  Luka Kovac thinks about the secrets revealed while waiting for a
class to begin and the seeds of a friendship are sown.


Luka was looking over the menu, trying to decide on what to order.  The
sexual harassment class had been interesting once the teacher got them past
all the legalese, and Luka had been rather pleased that it had ended on an
upbeat note.

His mind was still reeling from all he had learned, and not from the legal
things, but from the personal things he had found out about Abby, Susan
Lewis, Michael Gallant and Carter.  Of them all, Carter had surprised him
the most.  Luka smiled slightly as he remembered how surprised he had been
over Carter's temper, and his side was still smarting from the blow Carter
had landed there.  Luka also knew he had been wrong to aim for Carter's
head, but his own temper had gotten the best of him.  With all that had
happened, it was amazing they had been able to walk out of the class and
smile at each other, let alone shake hands. But they had, and Luka was glad
of it.  He found himself hoping that Carter was glad about it was well.

Luka smiled as he thought about which one of them had put that *thing * in
Kerry's locker.  He had a feeling it was Abby.  Or Susan.  Might as well be
either one of them since they had been the ones who got all of them into
trouble in the first place.  But, things hadn't turned out so bad.  The
Saturday had not been wasted.

Luka's smile faded though as he remembered the questions about virginity.
He had thought that Abby and Susan and Gallant had been terribly young when
they first had sex, but it had shocked him when Carter said he was eleven.
The man had to be lying; he just had to be.  Luka's mind couldn't even
comprehend how a person could have sex with an eleven-year-old.  The father
in him wouldn't let his mind go there.  One thing that bothered him was
that no one seemed alarmed by Carter's confession.  If an eleven-year-old
came into the ER and they discovered he or she had been engaged in sex with
an adult, they would be calling Adele down from Child Services.  But the
others only joked about it.  Luka had watched Carter as the women made
their jokes and insinuations -- Carter had looked more haunted than proud
of losing his virginity at that age.  He had worn a similar look when
Susan, Abby and Gallant were going on and on about how rich the Carter
family was.  Luka knew all too well that there were some things that money
couldn't buy, and he found himself wondering if the look in Carter's eyes
were a reflection of that.  Well, there was Lucy and the stabbing.  No
amount of money was able to keep Lucy alive or Carter from becoming
addicted.  What had bothered Luka the most about that whole exchange
though, was the way Carter had said he was worth nothing.  The others had
thought Carter meant money, but Luka had been looking at him, and he didn't
think that was what Carter meant.

There were a lot of times when Luka had been watching Carter, and finding
things there he hadn't expected.  Those looks in his eyes, the odd phrase
or two, the admission about losing his virginity.  How much they had in
common.  That had really been an eye-opener.  Luka had spent so much time
distancing himself from Carter that it had never occurred to him that they
might be more alike than different.

Luka looked up for the waitress, feeling somewhat irritated that the diner
was so busy that he couldn't get served.  He was hungry and he needed
food.  But even though she wasn't in sight, Luka found himself smiling over
who was -- Carter.  He had obviously just come in, alone, because Luka
didn't see Susan in the diner.  Carter was looking around for a place to
sit, but Luka knew he would be disappointed.  Luka had been lucky enough to
get the last empty booth in the place, and the counter was crowded.  Well,
his loss, Luka thought.  Or, was it?

"Carter!  Back here."  Luka wasn't sure why he called out to him.   Maybe it
was the memory of those haunted eyes.  Maybe it was because Carter was
alone when he shouldn't be.  Susan wasn't working, so where was she? His
smile widened as he saw Carter walking back toward him, stopping at the
table.

"I guess that class helped you work up an appetite, too?"  Carter asked,
the smile in his eyes matching the one on his face.

"Definitely.  I think it was the fencing though.  Have a seat.  I'm still
waiting to order, so there's no telling how long it will be until we can
actually get any food."

Carter seemed to hesitate, then he slid into the seat across from Luka.
"Thanks."  He looked down at the table, then up at Luka, concern in his
eyes.  "How's your side?"

Luka shrugged. "A bit sore.  How's your face?"

"I've done worse when shaving.  My wrist though, is killing me."   Carter
said with a grin.

"Sorry.  I guess we got a little carried away," Luka admitted.

"No, I should be the one apologizing.  Susan said I was acting like an ass
all day."

Luka pursed his lips as he nodded.  "You were.  But I think we all had our
moments."

"Yeah.  Look, what Susan said about Abby, and me well, you shouldn't listen
to her.  I mean, if the two of you are getting back together, then."

"We're not," Luka quickly interrupted. "I don't know what's in our future,
but right now we're just friends."

The waitress approached them and they ordered, then sat in silence for a
bit.  Luka cleared his throat.  "I know this is a personal question, but."

Carter laughed.  "I think we all revealed more than enough personal
information today, so why hesitate now?  What do you want to know?"

"When Abby and I broke up, why didn't the two of you get together?  I was
so sure that she'd run to you."  Luka looked at Carter, watching his face,
mostly his eyes, as the other man answered.

"She did.  But it was a bit after the two of you had broken up.  To be
honest, I didn't think she was over you, and I didn't want to be the
rebound guy."  Carter shrugged.  "Maybe I blew it.  I don't know.   I just
don't think we would have had a fair chance at that point because you were
still on her mind a lot.  And I think you're wrong, Luka.  I think that for
her, the two of you are still more than just friends."

The waitress came with their drinks and the conversation lagged a bit.
Luka knew Abby and himself well enough to know that if there was more to
them than friendship, then she wouldn't be sleeping on his couch.  She'd be
in the bed with him.  Since she wasn't, he didn't think that they were
somehow destined to be together.  Still, it was nice having her
friendship.  But he couldn't say that there was anything more than
friendship on her part for Carter, though.  Maybe he could ask some subtle
questions, find out.  If she did love Carter, and he loved her, then they
should at least date for a bit to see if things could work out for the two
of them.

"So, you sounded interested when I mentioned my father was an artist," Luka
said, breaking the silence.  "Do you like art?"

Carter nodded.  "I used to feel jealous of my cousin.  Chase mostly took
photographs, but he also drew and painted.  He was good, really good.  I
hope that your father never gives up his art, even if he isn't making a
living off of it."

"I don't think he will.  He enjoys it too much."  Luka took a drink of his
soda.  "You used the past tense to refer to Chase.  Is he dead?"

Carter shook his head.  "No.  But I don't think he'll ever draw again, or
take another picture.  He suffered brain damage a few years back from a
heroin overdose."  Carter looked Luka straight in the eyes.  "Yes, it
probably is some genetic flaw in the Carter family that makes us too weak
to resist temptation.  Chase's father drinks to excess, my father can
certainly put away the booze, and you know all about how dangerous it is to
let me anywhere near a narcotic."

"That's not true," Luka quickly replied, not liking the way Carter was
putting himself down.  "You've been clean for a long time now.  I heard
about Paul Sobriki showing up in the ER, and I think you've shown
incredible strength to not let that push you to a relapse."

Carter looked down at the table again, something Luka noticed he did often
when he didn't either want to face people or seemed to have something to
hide.  "Thank you.  To be honest, I never really thought that you'd have
any kind of a good opinion about me."

Luka digested that statement.  He could understand why Carter would feel
that way, as their relationship hadn't been the best.  But it hadn't always
been strained between them.  There had been a time, back when Luka first
started at County, that they had gotten along.  But that had been before
the stabbings, before Abby.  Maybe it wasn't too late to recover that, to
actually become friends.

Luka was willing to take the first step.  "I'm sorry.  I know I haven't
given you much of a chance at times.  I'll try to do better."

Carter looked up at him again.  "Abby used to talk to me, you know?  She'd
share her feelings and frustrations.  For the longest time, all I heard
were bad things about you.  Not bad things as in you being a bad person,
but."

"I understand what you mean.  Your perception of me was from what Abby told
you."

Carter nodded.  "Right.  But, it wasn't that she was being mean or cruel.
She was just venting at times.  At other times she just wanted to figure
out why she couldn't reach you."

"I used to wonder that about her, too."  Luka grinned.  "Maybe I should
have been venting to you?"

Carter laughed.  "Maybe.  Given how things went, it was for the best you
didn't."

"Maybe.  But, if you feel the need to vent, I'm here to listen," Luka
offered.  He hoped that Carter would take him seriously.

"Thanks."  Carter took a sip of his drink.  "Susan and I broke up.  We're
still friends and all, but we both realize that our relationship just
wasn't going to work.  There was no spark when we kissed.  I guess I just
needed a friend so much that I was willing to ignore that just so I could
keep Susan close."

"You and Abby were close friends.  What happened?"  Luka really did want to
know.  It seemed that Carter didn't have a lot of friends, and Luka thought
that was a bit sad.

Carter shrugged.  "I was an idiot, that's what happened."  He took another
drink of his soda.  "It started to end back in May.  When that crazy guy
was going around shooting people."

Luka nodded, remembering that day.  Mark Greene had thought that the gunman
was going after his wife and daughter.  Which, it had turned out he was.
Luka still couldn't believe that Mark and Elizabeth had broken up.

Carter continued.  "Abby and I both needed fresh air, so we went for a
walk. She started talking about you, and how you didn't understand her.
And I just snapped.  I told her that I wasn't her girlfriend and that she
shouldn't be telling me things like that.  I added that I didn't want to
keep sitting on the sidelines, wishing bad things for the two of you and
concluded by telling her I couldn't be her friend any longer."

Luka's eyes went wide.  "And what did she say?"

Carter shrugged again.  "Nothing much.  I came that close to telling her I
lov."

Luka grinned.  "You might as well say it."

Carter smiled back.  "I love her.  I'm sorry, Luka, but I love Abby.   I'm
trying not to love her, but.."  Carter shook his head.  "Anyway, we didn't
talk for a while and then my grandfather died and she came to the house."

Luka nodded, remembering that, too.  At the time he hadn't understood why
Abby wanted to go, but now he did.  And he was glad that she had gone.
More people from work should have gone, he thought, for Carter's sake.

"So, we were good again, until after the two of you broke up.  She came to
me, basically asking me out on a date.  And I turned her down.  I thought
she wasn't over you.  She disagreed.  And things have been strained between
us ever since.  I wanted so much to go to her when I heard about that
bastard beating her up, but I didn't think she'd want me around."  Carter
shook his head.  "I ruined my chance.  I know it."

Since Luka didn't know how Abby felt, he couldn't tell Carter that he was
wrong or right.  He wanted to be able to reassure him, but at the same
time, he didn't want to give him false hope, either.  "Maybe.  Maybe not."

"It's okay."  Carter fiddled with the straw in his glass, then grinned.   "I
lied, you know."

Luka blinked hard, wondering just what Carter had lied about.  Then he
smiled.  "Ah, about knowing how to fence?  I noticed."

Carter laughed.  "Actually, I wasn't lying about that.  It was about the
Bulls.  I really do like them."

"I thought so.  Something about the way you hid behind the newspaper when
you said it made me doubt your words," Luka agreed with a chuckle.
"Speaking of the Bulls, I happen to have two tickets to their next home
game.  I was going to sell the other one, but since you like them, would
you want to go?"

Carter looked surprised at the offer and Luka was afraid he'd turn him
down.  Then Carter nodded and smiled.  "Thanks.  I'd like that.   It's been
a long time since I've been to a game with a fr."

Luka smiled back at him.  "With a friend?  Me, too."  He sat back in his
seat, glad he had asked.  It was more than time for the two of them to work
on becoming friends.  More than time.  And it felt good.


The End