ER fanfic couples AU.

Not mine. Read and Review.

AU story- spoilers for series 5 and 6 of ER. I know that Carole and Doug are a very popular couple and I liked them, but this is just my idea.

Story 1 : Carole and Luka.

Carole felt as if her life was in chaos, but she had also never been happier. Tess and Kate were healthy and were now 6 months old. Living and raising them in the same house she had shared with their father was strange, but it was her home. She was grateful for her friendship with Mark, who had acted as her rock during her labour with the twins; he had been a replacement for the man who should have been there. She had another support, from her mother and her now-boyfriend, Luka.

Her attraction to Luka had taken her by surprise, considering how broken-hearted she had been left by Douge's sudden leaving and how shocked she had been with discovering the pregnancy she had prayed for for years, but it had been there almost instantly. First, they had formed a friendship and Carole knew that she would never forget his kindness when she had been in labour and how he had mentioned his late wife and, from that moment on, a friendship had formed and Luka had loved spending time with the twins, being a natural with children. Long before they had been together, Carole's friends and other staff had believed them to be a couple, and, whilst Carole had been aware of the fact, she had ignored it, instead simply ejoying his company at Christmas, the twins' first Christmas, and during other evenings, trying to persude herself that it was plantonic. That had all changed when, on a cold evening, sitting together, they had shared a kiss and Carole had been the one to intitate it and there was no time to pretend any more. Since then, which had been 3 months ago, they had been a couple and, whilst Carole was glad about this fact, it did make her feel more confused. When she saw Luka with her daughters, it was as if he was in the place of their real father and she knew that it could never fill the sadness inside of him, which had been left by the deaths of his wife and two children. Whenever he spoke of them, there was so much love in his voice and face and Carole could tell that he was beginning to become attached to Tess and Kate and, by the way he kissed and smiled at her, she knew that the same was happening to her. She was grateful that his Roman Catholic religion did not raise the question of having sex before marriage. She received his gestures with gratitude, pleasure, even and she was glad to be with him, but there was also an unresolved issue, at the back of her mind: Doug.

After Tess and Kate had been born, he had asked her to leave Chicago, to be with again, as he had done before he had left himself, and he had renewed his offer a couple of times in the past months. He loved their daughters, Carole knew that; whenever he came to Chicago, she left the girls with Mark, so that she would not have to see him, but so that he had time with his daughters. She loved Douge, but he had spent years trying to gain her affections again and there was a nagging question in her mind. She wondered if it might be best for her, for her daughters, to move there with him. Kate and Tess needed a father, a proper family, and, whilst she knew that Luka was fond of the girls, they were not his own, but she was also feeling conflicted about this; she was very proud and still angry with Doug for leaving in the first place, even though he had not known about her pregnancy.

That evening, Carole's shift at County Hospital ended earlier than she had expected, so she picked Kate and Tess up from the nursery and took them home, feeding them and then putting them to bed. She ordered herself a Chinese takeaway and sat in their bedroom, watching her most precious two people sleep. She just wanted what was best for them. Her solitude was interrupted when she heard the front-door open and, at that time, she knew that it was Luka. She had given him a key. She left her food and went down to the living-room where he was waiting for her and, as soon as he saw her, she saw his face light up and she smiled back, but wondered if her face reflected the affection she was seeing in his eyes. She walked over to him and he smiled and kissed her on the lips, which she returned, but then stopped, breaking the kiss and stepping away from him, not wanting to see the look of confusion in his eyes. She closed her eyes and was silent.

"Carole, are you alright? Did I do something wrong?" He sounded so concerned.

Opening her eyes, Carole shook her head and replied, "No, Luka. You haven't done anything wrong. It's me, I"- She broke off, unsure of how to go on, until she looked up at him and inquired, "Luka, are you serious about me, about us?"

Luka nodded and walked over to her, with a sincere smile on his face as he replied, "Yes, I am. I'm in love with you, Carole."

Carole's breath hitched at that and she closed her eyes again and shook her head, before continuing, "Yeah, Luka, this isn't fair on you, so I'll explain this as quickly as I can. I need some time to figure stuff out… I need a break from us. Can you give me that?"

There was a long silence, before Luka asked, "Is this about the girls' father? Are you still in love with him?"

Looking him directly in the eyes, Carole nodded. "I think I am. He's their father and he's asked me to go and see him. Maybe I should go and work out if it could work." She paused, then added, "Maybe, I can trust him."

Luka just nodded, then walked out of the house, picking up his coat, without another word and Carole knew that she had broken his heart, but she was glad that she had done it now, before things had become more serious between the two of them. He was in love with her, but she did not think that she could feel that way about him, because there had always been Doug and he was Tess and Kate's father.

For the following weak, Carole and Luka managed to avoid each other and every time Carole saw him, he looked at her with cold eyes, clearly sad, and she was still glad with her decision, believing that it was best for both of them and fair on him. She had sent a message to Doug, asking him to come to Chicago; she wanted to talk to him, and she waited for him to reply and she was thinking of how she would act when she saw him, how she would hug and kiss him and see him with the girls and feel as if her life was complete. Her life would feel complete when he was there, with them.

It was an early morning in the ER and Carole was just starting her shift as she heard a familiar voice talking to Mark and, as she turned the corner, she saw Doug, standing there, grinning in his usual manner. He turned and saw her and walked over to her, grinning and Mark walked away, and she waited for him to come over to her, not wanting to seem to eager. He finally reached her and kissed her on the check. He smiled and said, "I've missed you, Carole. I was so happy when I got your letter." He paused, then asked, "What did you wanna talk to me about?"

Without replying, Carole took him to day-care and watched his eyes lit up as he saw the twins and she smiled at the look in his eyes. He looked at her and told her, "They're so beautiful, Carole, just like you."

There was a silence, then she turned to face him, looking away from her daughters, and began to speak, "Doug, I asked you to come here, to work things out between us."

"And, have you? I can find a job for you in Seattle, and a place for the girls. Day-care. I have a big house, big enough for the four of us."

Carole smiled and stepped closer to him and rested her head against his, looking into his eyes. As they began to kiss, she knew that she was kissing differently, like she kissed Luka, but Doug did not seem to mind and took it as the answer to his question and it felt right. She had loved him since she was 23 and, for that reason, though it was strange, he felt like the safe choice.

Later that day, Doug had left, to spend time with the girls, Carole was listening to a man who had just lost his wife, the mother of his two children, to cancer, barley an hour before; he started to talk about how she had been his soul-mate, how there was only one person for each of us, and he had not believed in any of that before he had met her, but he did now. As Carole was listening to those words, a face of the man who was the love of her life appeared in her head, the first name she thought of when she heard those words. She excused herself, grabbed her bag and coat, and rushed home, to see Doug.

Not waiting for him to speak, she began, "Doug, you and I have quite a history together, don't we? I did love and I still do, but you left me. I wasn't enough to make you stay in Chicago, and I wanted to be enough. But the truth is that you have always loved me more than I've loved you." She wiped away her tears and looked at him, hoping that he would understand. "I'm sorry. I need to have a husband and a father to Kate and Tess whom I trust and, no matter how hard I try, I can't trust you. I've always had doubts about you and that isn't a good foundation for a marriage, for a family, is it?"

Standing up, Doug walked over to her and replied, "Carole, you're being stupid. I love you, you love me and we have the girls. What more can you want? I've changed. I would never cheat on you- ever. I love you and I always will."

Carole nodded and whispered, "I know and that's why this wouldn't be fair, because you love me more. You always have." She kissed him goodbye and walked out, knowing that he would be gone by the time she returned. He ran after her, begging her to change her mind, but she wiped away her tears and made her way back to County General. Now, she finally knew whom she wanted to be with, the man who fitted into her family, the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and it wasn't Doug.

As soon as she returned to the hospital, she asked where Luka was. He was alone in the loug, so she went straight there. He looked up at her and, seeing that she had been crying, asked, "Carole, are you alright? Are the girls okay?"

Without answering, Carole sat down on the sofa next to him and broke the space between them with a passionate kiss, and she smiled as his hand went to her face and he responded to the kiss. The kiss finally ended and they rested their heads together, silently looking into each other's eyes, before finally Carole whispered, "Luka, I've only just worked this out. Seeing Doug made me realise it: You're the one I want to be with, the one I want to raise Kate and Tess with, if you'll have me." She paused, then added, "I think you're the love of my life and I don't want to regret not trying this with you, because we work well together. I know that Tess and Kate aren't Jansa and Marco and I'm not your wife, but I think this can work. What do you think?"

Luka smiled and cupped her face with his hands, love evident in his eyes and he just murmured, "I love you, Carole Haraway. You give me reason to hope, again. A reason to live. I thought I would never be happy again after- after my family died, but I can see a future now. I will always love and miss them, but I can love you and the girls just as much. People have already mistkan us for a family."

Carole kissed him again, then said that she loved him, too, and they continued to kiss for a while, before returning to work. When their shifts were over, they picked Tess and Kate up, together, and went back to Carole's, before, finally, Luka returned home. Doug had left a letter for Carole and she read it; it was more for the girls, so she kept it, leaving it for them when they were older.

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