Disclaimer: I don't own 30 Rock or its characters.

Author's Note: It's a really long story. My apologies, but in the words of Liz Lemon, "Creativity to me is like a bird, it's just like a friendly bird that embraces all ideas and just like, shoots out of its eyes all kinds of beauty." Reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!

"How are the sketch revisions coming along, monkeys?" Liz asked rather perkily one morning.

"They're not," said Frank bluntly, "and why are you so happy today?"

Liz took a deep breath in and let it out quickly. "I think the real question is, why aren't you so happy today, Frank?"

"Who said I wasn't?" he retorted. "Did you start going back to that Dutch chiropractor again?"

Liz nodded. "Ja! But no, Doctor Vergoossen is not the reason I am happy this morning –"

"Watch it sister, he is my cousin," Sue grumbled.

Ignoring the irrelevant comment, Liz continued: "I'm happy because it's Friday. And do you know what that means?"

"The arrival of my official Harvard alumnus sweater and snow globe?" asked Toofer.

"We get to dance in our jammies?" suggested Lutz.

Liz's brows furrowed. "No and no. Toofer, don't wear that thing to work, or I might vomit. Lutz…just shut up, Lutz." She sighed. "It means that tomorrow's Saturday, and the deli down the street from my apartment is adding a new sandwich to their breakfast lineup –"

"You're making this sound like an important thing," Frank interrupted.

"It IS an important thing!" Liz snapped. "I'm setting my alarm clock for 6:38 AM, just when the sun starts to rise, and I will rise with the sun – I will stretch my arms in a big circle and I will yawn even though I'm not tired. I'll hop out of bed and wear something orange, because orange deserves a little love too! And I'll take the stairs to get to the lobby of my apartment, and from there I will walk to the deli and order the newest item on the menu: two scrambled eggs, tomato, Swiss cheese, a dash of ketchup and a pancake on two types of bun – an English muffin top and a cinnamon raisin bagel bottom. And I will devour it. AND I WILL RISE WITH THE SUN!"

The Writers stared at her for a few moments, unsure of how to respond; Frank was the first one to speak.

"They put a pancake on a sandwich?"

Liz nodded. "I know, it's the single greatest innovation in modern sandwiching technology."

Frank raised an eyebrow. "It sounds mildly disgusting. I'll have to try it." Then he added, "Hey, do you think you could let me know when you want to schedule your happiness, because I think it really freaked Lutz out…" He glanced to the corner of the room where Lutz was crouched in fetal position.

Just then, another voice sounded, towering above the rest. "Did someone say 'Muffin Top'?"

A few of the Writers groaned as Jenna sashayed in. "I'm sorry to have to disappoint you all, but I don't take morning requests. You'll have to purchase my EP on iTunes if you want to listen from the hours of 8 AM to 11:30 AM."

Liz sighed. "That's nice, Jenna. Are you ready to rehearse for the pregnant tiger sketch?"

Jenna moved her arms in sweeping motions around the room. "I've never been more ready in my life!" she announced in her best famous-actress voice. "I will be waiting on the stage!" With that, she pranced away clumsily.

Liz dropped her bag onto one of the chairs. "All right, let's take a look at what we need to do in the next few hours…"

Just as she was about to sit and review with the Writers, Cerie said, "Liz, Mister Donaghy needs to see you in his office."

Liz sighed again. "Can it wait, Cerie? We have a lot of work to do –"

That was when Liz heard Cerie say, "Yes, Mister Donaghy, she'll come up right now." Once she hung up the phone (which, Liz noticed, had been bedazzled), Cerie said, "Oh, what did you want me to tell him?"

Liz waved her hands in front of her face. "It's fine, Cerie, don't worry about it. I'll go see Jack now. As for the rest of you –" she said as she headed towards the door, "Please work on those sketches. I know you won't do it, but saying it makes me feel better."

When the elevator opened on the fifty-second floor and Liz stepped out, she noticed Jonathan hunched over at his desk, weeping quietly. One hand was pressed to his face and he looked down, pretending to scribble something on a piece of paper. Liz craned her neck and took a few steps towards him. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked gently. Quickly Jonathan wiped his tears and scowled at her. "Oh, you're here; yes, I'm fine, no thank you for asking. Mister Donaghy will see you now."

Liz rolled her eyes. Okay then, she thought, and walked into the doorway of Jack's office, leaning on the wall. "Hey, buddy," she said. "You wanted to see me?"
"Lemon, come in and close the door," Jack said with a sigh. Confused, Liz did so and then plopped herself down on Jack's couch. "What's up?" she asked.

Jack hesitated for a few moments. Finally, he admitted, "Lemon, I don't know how to say this…so I'm going to let say it for me." He hit a button on the keyboard and his computerized voice said in choppy monotone, "I am leaving NBC."

Liz chuckled. "You know, that almost sounded like it said you're leaving NB –"

Observing the look on Jack's face, she did not finish her sentence. Jack avoided her eyes when he said, "That's right. I'm…resigning."

Liz shook her head. "No, you're not."

Slightly amused, Jack picked up his head to look at her and said, "What?"

"You aren't resigning."

"Lemon, I am."

"But that would mean –"

As though reading her mind, Jack cut in, "No, Lemon, I'm not quitting. Jack Donaghy is not, I repeat not, a quitter, and allow me to make it clear that I did not just use a double negative, implying that I am a quitter, when, in fact, I am not –"

"Jack, you're rambling," Liz pointed out.

He stopped and sighed, taking a moment to gather his thoughts, then continued: "The name 'Donaghy' loosely translates 'not a quitter' in Swahili – is what I am telling the TGS cast and crew. Lemon, I'm sorry –"

Liz shook her head, standing up. "What the what, Jack!?"

Jack looked around the room, thoughts once again scattered. "All right, listen, Lemon, let me explain –

"Don't try and distract me with alliteration!" Liz accused, pointing a finger and moving closer to him. "This is a serious matter!"

Jack put his palms up, trying to calm her down. "I know. Why don't you sit down."

Reluctantly, she did, right in front of his desk this time. He sat opposite her and said, "I'm detaching myself from NBC and GE to commence the development of my own network. It was suggested to me by Don Geiss that I should…seek other business opportunities at this time."

"I thought he was going to name you his successor," Liz said, and Jack nodded. "Yes, however based on my last conversation with Geiss, he isn't retiring anytime soon, and he advised me to plan an exit strategy. There will be, of course, someone to come in and take my place, and I will likely have a say in who it is, so you have no reason to worry." Jack tried to lean back in his desk chair but couldn't bring himself to totally relax, so he straightened his spine. He looked at Liz quickly and then dropped his gaze to the stack of papers on his desk.

Liz was speechless. What could she say? Jack couldn't just leave. Because he was Jack. And he couldn't. That was reason enough for her, so that was the reason she gave him.

"You can't just leave. Because you're Jack." She knew it sounded more justifying in her head, but she wasn't sure how else to respond.

"Lemon, how about I take you to dinner tonight and we'll talk this over?" he offered, placing his palm face-up on the desk.

"We have a show tonight."

"Afterwards, then."

Liz bit her lip. "Fine," she said, pressing her palm into his.

Jack grinned. "Then it's a date," he said, lightly kissing her hand before she yanked it back. "A date, huh? It'd better be impressive, Donaghy," she said, trying to make a light joke.

"Are you forgetting who I am?" he said, and this overconfident remark actually reassured her on some level. "We'll go to Plunder. Wear a dress."

"Plunder?" Liz said. "Isn't that a little extravagant?"

"Would you prefer something more low-key?" Jack asked.

"Actually, yes, I would," Liz said.

"Plunder it is."

The show went surprisingly smoothly that night, except for Jenna ad-libbing in almost every sketch about something completely unrelated to what was going on in the scene, but the studio audience still laughed so Liz didn't mind. After the show, Jenna approached Liz from behind, waving her hands in her friend's face.

"Jenna, what are you doing?" Liz asked, trying to shoo Jenna's hands away.

"I'm welcoming you into the club!" Jenna said, then erupted into a fit of laughter. When she calmed down, she asked, "Are you going out with the cast and crew tonight Liz?"

Liz tilted her head to the side. "What is up with you? One minute you're normal, the next you're completely off your rocker –"

"Doctor Spaceman prescribed me some new medications to help me deal with my need for attention. They're orange this time, because orange deserves love too. Anyway, you never answered my question." Jenna slid her hands into her pockets as she and Liz walked away from the stage – the studio was beginning to clear out. "Oh, no, I uh, have plans with Jack," Liz admitted, silently wishing Jenna wouldn't ask, but of course she did. "Oooh, plans? Like a date?"

Liz shook her head. "Of course not."

"Where are you two lovebirds going?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "Plunder, but it's nothing special –"

Jenna gasped with delight. "Plunder! Oh, Liz, it IS a date!"

"It is not," Liz told her emphatically.

"You'll need to wear something very apple," said Jenna.

"Remember the last time you thought I was on a date with Jack? It was the very opposite of a date and I ended up making a fool of myself." The two turned and continued down the hall until Jenna ducked into her dressing room. From the doorway, she said, "Hey, don't knock it 'til you football."

Lacking a proper comeback, Liz walked away.

"Hey, Liz!"

She turned around to see Pete running towards her. "What's up?" she asked.

"I called Spaceman to see what he prescribed Jenna – he said it's a placebo." Pete explained. Liz's brows furrowed. "Wait a second, that would mean she's just acting weird for no reason," she pointed out.

"Acting weird for no reason?" They turned to see Tracy with Grizz and Dot Com behind him. "That's my thing! Someone get me a play Cee Lo!"

Liz and Pete exchanged confused glances when Tracy waddled away like a penguin, thus reassuring everyone that it was his job to act weird for no reason.

"Spaceman's not doing some kind of strange social experiment, is he?" Liz asked Pete. "Social experiments are the worst."

Pete clicked his tongue a few times. "No, I don't think Spaceman knows how to conduct a social experiment. At least, not like that kid from –"

Pete was interrupted by Jack who tapped Liz on the shoulder. "Lemon, please get ready. We're leaving soon."

Liz sighed and Pete looked at her. She said, "I'll tell you tomorrow."