Title: Love Triangle
Author: SneetchesToo
Rating: PG-13 (some later chapters may be higher, but I will indicate at the beginning which ones those are)
Pairing: Ethan/Leanne
Summary: "Some mommas and daddie
Are loving in a straight line;
Take forever to heart
And take a long sweet ride.
But some mommas and daddies
Let their heart strings tear and tangle,
And some of us get stuck
In a love triangle
."
-Love Triangle by RaeLynn
Author's Note: I couldn't help myself. It's obviously slightly AU. I'm gonna try to stick as close to canon as possible. This is pretty much ALL about Ethan/Leanne/Ellie and there is very little interaction of the other characters from the show.

Chapter 1 - Eleanor

Leanne did a double take as she pulled the curtain of the small area back. Angus had told her that there was a young patient waiting for x-ray and that while the young girl seemed to be holding it together well, she was starting to become impatient. Angus thought Leanne could help. Angus was an idiot.

"Hi." Leanne's voice cracked, the girl in front of her looking every bit like the frantic Army Colonel she had just passed in the hallway. Her light brown hair was pulled into a side braid and her gray eyes, those damn gray eyes, were staring back at her brightly. Leanne shook her head back and forth, this had to be a joke.

"Hi." The little girl replied and it brought Leanne from her thoughts.

Eyeing her curiously Leanne moved forward to check out the girl's arm that was loosely wrapped in an ace bandage. "I'm Leanne." Her voice was soft, and whether it was from curiosity or fear, or a little of both, she wasn't sure.

"Eleanor." The girl's voice was soft, and the closer Leanne got, the more she realized there was no denying that this girl belonged to Dr. Willis in some way, shape, or form. "You can call me Ellie. All of my friends do."

"Well hi there Ellie." Leanne removed the bandage as gently as she could and smiled softly when the girl didn't so much as flinch at her touch. "What happened?"

"I fell down at school." The voice that answered her was shaky, and Leanne looked up, her eyes connecting with a very uncertain pair of gray ones. "I think it's broken."

Pulling her gaze from the young girl's, Leanne went back to her exam, placing her arm gently in her lap when she was done. "Well Ellie, I believe you are correct."

The girl simply nodded her head, tugging gently on her braid with her free hand. Leanne could see the tears on the brink of falling and she reached out to pat the girl's cheek, hoping to offer some sort of comfort. "Where are your parents Ellie?"

"Mom's, out, I guess." The tone with which the young child responded was not what Leanne expected, and it broke her heart because she figured that was probably the girl's best guess most of the time.

"What about your dad?" She asked softly, she watched as the girl got ready to respond and was holding her breath, when the curtain flew open behind her.

"Eleanor!" And there was the answer Leanne had been fearing. Standing before her was the one and only Dr. Ethan Willis. The gray eyes matching those of her young patient were dark, and she could see the way his hands trembled slightly.

"Hi daddy." The girl's voice was quiet, but Leanne heard no fear, which was comforting considering how she had sounded when asked about her mother.

Ethan stepped forward, moving around Leanne without a second thought, and reached out to take her left arm in his hands. "What happened baby?"

Leanne watched with what she could only describe as loving eyes. She had always known Ethan was good with children, he always seemed to have a soft spot for their youngest patients, and now she knew why.

"I fell down at school." Ellie's voice stayed quiet, and Leanne watched as she eyed her father curiously. "I told Aunt Mae to bring me here."

Letting out a sigh Ethan finally turned to her, his hands still holding his daughter's arm softly. "Has she been to X-Ray yet?"

Shaking her head back and forth Leanne struggled to find her voice. Feeling like she was observing something she was never meant to be part of. "No. Not yet."

"Okay." Ethan turned his attention back to the young girl and offered her a soft smile. "You stay put okay sweetie. I'm gonna go talk to Leanne for a minute."

The girl nodded her head and the smile that graced her face when her father placed a kiss to her head made Leanne's heart flutter. She watched as Ethan stood, gesturing for her to lead the way, and she offered Ellie one last smile before walking out.

She could feel Ethan behind her, his gaze boring into the back of her head, and she felt bad. She felt like she had betrayed him somehow. Like she had just discovered his biggest, darkest secret. Like she had just finally cracked the code that was the mysterious Ethan Willis.

"She's six." Ethan's voice was softer than she expected and when she turned around she was met with a much softer look than before. "Her mom has custody, but I get her every other weekend now too. I've been fighting to get her full time since I came to LA." He ran a hand through his messy hair and leaned back against the wall behind them. "It's why I came back."

Leanne simply nodded her head, her pen moving along the chart in her hands on its own accord. She didn't even know what she was writing at this point, she just wanted to keep her hands busy. "You owe me nothing Ethan. It's your business. I don't need an explanation."

Ethan sighed, reaching out gently to still her trembling hand. "But I owe you one." His voice was softer than she thought it had ever been, and her heart stopped in her chest at the look in his eyes. "You're my best friend Leanne, I shouldn't have kept something like this from you." He pulled his hand back, rubbing at his face with both hands. "I'm sorry."

"Have you known about her all along?" Leanne's voice quivered and she prayed that Ethan kept his cool. Because if it had been her, she would've lost her shit already.

"Yeah." Ethan hung his head as he lowered his voice so that the girl couldn't hear him. "I got a call from her aunt, my step-sister, she said I needed to come home. I talked to my CO." He rubbed his hands over his face again, the memory of his 2:00am phone call to General Hutchins seeming like it happened yesterday. "He got me the first transfer out of Baghdad."

"Oh. Okay." Leanne didn't know what else to say, her brain was starting to hurt from the influx of information coming at her.

Ethan reached forward again, gripping her arm gently. "I know it's a lot to take in."

Nodding her head, Leanne let out a sigh, refusing to meet his eyes with hers, she set her gaze on his hands. "Does anyone else know?" She felt her voice shake, and if she had been nervous before, well she didn't know what this feeling was.

"Noa and Rollie." His reply shocked her, Noa, really? She wanted to say she wasn't slightly jealous of the relationship the younger resident had with the man in front of her, but then she'd be lying.

"Oh." She knew one word replies were his pet peeve, maybe subconsciously she was trying to piss him off. Maybe she just didn't care. But she didn't have time to think about it because before he could reply the X-Ray tech was standing before them, asking for their patient, and Leanne watched as Ethan disappeared behind the curtain to get his daughter.

His daughter. Those words still sounded so foreign to her. She couldn't wrap her head around what was happening. Ethan had a child. A small child at that. A daughter. A little girl who wasn't much older than her daughter had been. She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her and without thinking she walked away. Away from Ethan and Eleanor. Away from Trauma One. Away from the last thing she ever expected to be faced with. His daughter.

*Don't forget to comment and let me know how you like it! I have big hopes for this story so I hope you guys are as on board with it as I am :)