Author's Note: I do not own these characters (of course), but I love them dearly and had a great time working with them once again. Tried to create much more build up in this one, and also played with the timeline a bit. Thanks to my beta for her endless support and inspiration. Hoping you all will enjoy it, and I look forward to hearing your feedback!
Megan stood in front of Kate's office, hands trembling a little with the usual cocktail of nerves and parasthesia. She looked down at the small envelope she held, turning it over, admiring the swirls of lavender and turquoise decorating each side. She took a deep breath, slipped inside the office and cleared her throat as she approached Kate's desk.
"Am I interrupting anything?"
"Just looking over the budget for the eight millionth time." Kate glanced up at her with a sarcastic smirk. "Come to chip away at it some more?"
"Not today," Megan assured. "Graduation is a week from Sunday. I was told to give this to you."
Kate stopped reading the spreadsheets on her desk. She slowly lifted her head and locked eyes with Megan, briefly scanning her face, trying to read her. She could never get a good read. As much as it aggravated her, she had also come to take a certain enjoyment in the mystery. People were too often predictable, and Dr. Hunt was anything but.
She reached out and took the card.
"Lacey would love for you to be there," Megan added.
Kate opened the envelope and glanced over it hesitantly.
"I don't know how much her father would appreciate it."
She ended her tumultuous affair with Megan's ex nearly three years ago, and since then they'd done their best to avoid each other. Megan's "I told you so" reaction only lasted for a few weeks. After that, even as time passed, things continued to be not-so-cozy but tolerable between them.
"Todd's an adult…sort of," Megan responded. "He'll deal with it."
"And you?"
Megan raised an eyebrow.
"Me?"
"How do you feel about me being there?"
"I have no objections to your friendship with Lacey," Megan genuinely offered. "She likes you, always has."
Kate smiled, softening a bit.
"I'll be there."
"Great."
Megan let out a small sigh, though not small enough for Kate to miss it.
"Something wrong?" she practically groaned. Megan's elusive brushes with friendship never lasted long.
"Nothing…you just never seemed to care about intruding before."
Kate turned red and rolled her eyes.
"Can we move on already? Please?"
"Gladly."
And with that Megan dramatically turned on her heels and left. Kate watched as her auburn hair swished back and forth.
"Mom, stop!"
Megan was trying to adjust Lacey's cap on her head, unloading bobby pin after bobby pin into her scalp.
"I'm trying to get it to stay."
"It's fine! I have to get in line."
"Just a few more and it should…"
"Jesus Christ, Megan, let her go!" Todd snapped.
Megan glared at him, made one final adjustment, and squeezed Lacey's shoulder before sending her on her way.
"I was just trying to help."
"Yeah, well if you ask me, you try a little too hard sometimes."
"Do you think you could keep your opinion of how lousy a mother I am to yourself for just this one day? This one, monumental day in our daughter's life? Because I really…"
She trailed off as she saw Todd visibly stiffen, only to note seconds later that Kate was approaching them. Her violet pencil skirt and cream colored lace blouse were perfect for a graduation, Megan thought. She had to admit: the woman knew how to dress.
"Todd, Megan," Kate greeted them.
"Great. Now we can be one big happy family," Todd fumed.
"I'm only here for Lacey."
"No kidding."
"Okay," Megan broke in before things got ugly. "Let's find our seats."
The ceremony lasted about two hours, though Megan made it about five minutes in before starting to cry. She tried her best to hide the proud, persistent tears streaming down her cheeks. Nevertheless, she was grateful when she felt Kate's hand gently grab her own, placing a tissue in it.
After the band finished Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance for the final time, they met Lacey in the lobby of the auditorium. Megan finally got herself under control as Lacey hugged her, then Todd, then Kate. She was beginning to marvel at how easy this was.
By the time they were halfway through dinner, however, the pleasantries had worn off.
"I guess the 'honorable' Joan Hunt couldn't take a break from her campaign tour for her granddaughter's graduation," Todd sneered.
Megan looked at Lacey, who seemed barely affected by the comment, but enough for her to try to make things better.
"She'd be here if she could. She sent her love."
"And a check," Lacey joked, twirling her linguini with her fork.
"That's the Hunt way I guess," Todd shot back. "Throw enough money at someone and it's supposed to make up for everything else."
"Todd, what is with you?" Megan finally snapped. "This is Lacey's day, and you're acting even more childish than usual."
"I'm childish! I'd say I'm handling things rather maturely considering I've had to spend the entire day with two of my exes, not to mention that the two of you have become best friends."
Kate choked a little on her wine. "Hardly."
Megan looked at her, surprised by how much the comment stung, despite its truth.
"Dad, why are you sweating?"
Megan turned her attention back to Todd, who appeared paler than moments before.
"Todd?"
"I'm fine!"
"You don't look fine," Kate noted as she dipped her napkin in her water and attempted to wipe his brow. Todd swatted her away, gritting his teeth.
"Everyone… just…leave…" Todd began to stammer as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slumped over in his chair. Believing at first that she must be dreaming, Megan hesitated to react. When she saw Lacey throw her arms around Todd, shaking him, she snapped back into reality. Kate already had her phone out and was dialing 911, but Megan somehow knew as she dashed to the other side of the table and checked for a pulse that calling the paramedics would be futile.
He was dead.
Megan stood looking down at the body on the table, nauseous at the sight of a corpse for the first time in decades. She was beyond exhausted from consoling Lacey for the past few hours, an almost impossible task. She would never forget the screams emanating from her daughter as she desperately tried to revive Todd. Later, she rubbed Lacey's back as she sat on the curb outside the restaurant with her arms wrapped around her knees, shaking and rocking herself back and forth. Megan had held it together pretty well for her sake. Now, alone in the lab, she braced herself against the cold metal, gripping it tightly. She didn't quite know what to feel. She suspected most of her pain was residual from seeing her daughter so completely heartbroken. Still, as much as she had grown to hate Todd, there was too much history between them for her to not feel something of her own.
As hard as it was to leave Lacey with her best friend's family, Megan knew she needed to do this for both of them. She never knew exactly why her own father died and it gnawed at her to this day. The reports said suicide, but she knew there was more to it than that. She didn't want Lacey to have any doubts, and that meant the best woman needed to do the job.
The clock continued to tick as she stared down at the body. She fixated on the eraser-like pink mole that lay buried beneath the chest hair near the left nipple. It would have been unremarkable to any other medical examiner, nothing to put in the notes. But Megan knew this body well. She could feel it without even touching it. Though she hadn't seen it in years, she was taken aback by how much she remembered.
"Megan…"
Megan gasped at the sound, not expecting anyone else to be there so late, especially considering she had demanded everyone leave her alone. She should have known her boss would not comply.
Megan looked up at Kate, whose eyes were filled with the thinnest layer of tears, glossed over enough to catch the light and make her blue irises really gleam. She breathed deeply, nostrils flaring as she peered over the body, attempting to maintain her composure while leaning against the doorframe. She then trailed her eyes up to Megan's. The two women stared at one another, at a complete loss for words. So much lay between them, more than there had ever been. Every awkward moment from the past few years seemed to manifest and dissipate all at once.
"Do you want…" Megan swallowed. "Will you…help?" she managed to sputter, not letting one more tear spill out for the day. She had met her quota.
Kate quickly donned a lab coat and gloves and joined Megan at the side of the table. Megan held out her hand, and for a moment she almost wished Kate would grab it as she had earlier that day, giving her some kind of comfort, but the blonde knew what she was asking for. She handed her the scalpel, and for the next hour the two seemed to work as one, each anticipating the other's needs, seamlessly and almost speechlessly performing the autopsy.
After sectioning several clogged arteries and severely deteriorated lungs, the two concurred that it had not been the stress of one day that had killed Todd. Years of smoking, poor diet and family medical history colluded to bring on his early demise. Megan briefly recalled the years she spent begging him to change his habits. All she had been able to do was make Todd promise not to smoke around Lacey and to feed her decently when he had custody. She had given up on him, but it was clear he had also given up on himself. As terrible as she felt for Lacey, her own sentimentality began to fade, anger taking its place. She did not feel sorry for him.
"Want me to finish sterilizing these so you can get Lacey?" Kate interrupted her thoughts.
"It's almost midnight," Megan murmured. "I don't want to wake her if she managed to fall asleep."
Kate nodded. Megan watched as she washed the tools in the tray, shaking her head a little, trying to get her bangs to stay out of her face. Megan walked over to the sink and, almost in a daze, reached out and pushed the stray blonde locks behind Kate's ear. Kate froze for a moment, then looked to Megan as she continued to run the water over their instruments.
"Thank you."
Megan nodded.
"I mean… for everything," Kate continued. "For letting me assist you."
"I figured you had a right. Maybe more than me."
"My connection pales in comparison."
Megan shrugged. "I'm grateful you were here. I practically forgot how to make an incision."
Kate managed a soft chuckle. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."
Megan smiled. She couldn't believe this woman, whom she could barely stand for most of their acquaintance, had been so vital to getting through the day.
"Well," Kate spoke as she dried her hands. "I think we should both attempt to get some rest."
Megan nodded again silently, not really wanting to go home to an empty apartment, but knowing she had no alternative.
The two rode down in the elevator together. When they got to their cars, Megan turned to Kate again.
"It pains me to even ask this, but I think I may need to take the next few days off. Trust me, if I didn't…"
"Take as much time as you need," Kate interrupted. "Well…not too much."
Megan smirked. "What would you do without me?"
Kate rolled her eyes, but smiled genuinely. Megan's cheeks flushed. Attributing it to exhaustion, she quickly said goodbye and got into her car. She put the air conditioner on full blast and fought back more tears the whole way home.