Title: The Pretence

Rating: M

Summary: Jack and Gabrielle give into grief and temptation following Sean's death and have to deal with the consequences.

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own anything - if i did, I'd be writing scripts, not fanfiction. But a mate of mine went to WAAPA with Virginia Gay, if that's a claim to anything :p

I miss Mark Priestley. I miss Wil Traval. I miss Jolene Anderson.

She holed herself up in consult room one, wanting to be alone. So much had happened today, she had her whole goddamn nursing staff looking to her for cues and she couldn't bloody handle it all the time. She needed a few minutes alone…

Jack Quade opened the door and peeked in. "Gabrielle," he said smoothly. "Have you seen Charlotte?"

Gabrielle frowned. Zoë had Frank, Charlotte had Vincent and Jack, she had a nursing staff looking to her for cues. It wasn't fair. "She's with Vincent," Gabrielle said shortly.

"So she's not alone then," Jack said, and Gabrielle felt another stab of resentment. She got that Charlotte and Vincent were close because of their marriage and long standing friendship. She got that Charlotte and Jack were close because of their pregnancy and miscarriage. But it didn't seem fair that Sean's two closest friend's had people to turn to while she had a goddamn consult room.

"No, she's not," Gabrielle said, with more bitterness then she meant.

Jack stepped into the room fully, shutting the door, Gabrielle heard the click of the lock mechanism sliding into place. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"You look like you need someone. Don't worry, I've just kicked a few walls and bawled my eyes out, so I'm not about to fall apart." He took a few steps closer to him and said, more softly, more intimately, in that voice that could get through to the most emotionally isolated patients, "I'm not your staff. You can bawl your eyes out if you want to and I won't say anything to anyone."

Christ, with all the rumour and innuendo swirling about him – the last two female NUMs confirmed lovers, one of their best friend's knocked up – that was one thing you could give Jack credit for. He took a confidence to the grave.

Her face looked near to crumbling, and he quickly closed the space between them so that when her knees buckled, she was securely ensconced in his arms. He wasn't about to say sweet platitudes about it all being alright. It wasn't going to be alright, ever. They had just tried frantically to save a colleague – and failed. Dan had already gone home – and, Jack was sure, was right now consulting the extent of their bar. He himself had been forbidden to return to work today or tomorrow. It wasn't going to be OK. Ever.

But he could hold her and say "Do what you need to." He could hold her as someone who understood the terrible situation they'd both just been party to. He could hold her with some degree of understanding as she sobbed uncontrollably in his arms, her stoicism having given way to the promise of someone who was offering his arms to cry in without any repercussions from her staff.

Gently, he scooped her into his arms and settled them both onto the bed, her sitting in his lap. She didn't notice. She was too busy crying into his chest, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Oh, God, why couldn't we do anything?" she asked rhetorically. "Why couldn't we save him?" She mumbled about what they could have done between bouts of sobs and silent periods.

He ran his fingers through her hair, across her neck, giving the security she needed to let go. It must have taken some effort to hold that in, he thought. Impulsively he kissed the top of her head and held her tighter, feeling her tears seep through his shirt and onto his chest. It was an incredibly strange feeling to have someone as much of a leader as Gabrielle was crying in his arms – he barely knew her, and was only in this situation because he'd been looking for Charlotte.

But along the way he'd found someone who was just as much in need of comfort, who didn't have anyone else. He couldn't just leave her.

He found himself tearing up again and he sniffled. He hadn't known Sean that well – the ED staff had to be feeling this much harder than he was – but well enough that his death had cut deeply into Jack's psyche. It was never easy to lose a patient, and when that patient was a colleague…

When he got home he was going to get very drunk. He needed an outlet for his anger and frustration, and that seemed like the best solution.

Christ, he hoped Dan was home. And that he hadn't invited Erica over and the two of them were off doing their little thing. Not that he could have blamed his housemate if that's what Dan wanted to do – Dan and Erica had been closer to Sean then Jack had so Jack couldn't begrudge Dan if Erica was the person he wanted to be with – but the last thing Jack wanted tonight was to be alone.

Unconsciously he held Gabrielle tighter, the fingers on the back of her neck becoming almost loverly in the way he was running them across her skin. Setting physical boundaries with attractive women had never been Jack's forte. Even if he had made that crack to Dan last year about swearing off blonds forever because they only ever got him into trouble.

Christ, he really had no sense of personal boundaries, he thought, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he had the ED's NUM in his lap, that a few minutes ago he'd bundled her into his arms like a girlfriend, or at least a close friend. Could you even call them friends, he wondered? He barely knew her.

At yet here she was in his lap.

Gabrielle pulled away from him slightly so she could look up at him. Their eyes connected. And thought neither would ever be able to say who it was who kissed who, they were kissing, their mouths fused together. Their tongues met. Jack's fingers slid from the back of her neck into her hair, fumbling with the clip that held it up. Gabrielle's hands went from around his neck to one running her fingers through his hair, the other down his back. He bucked against her involuntarily. What could he say, he liked to be touched.

She tugged at his shirt, letting it out of his pants, and ran her fingers along the bare skin of his back. He let out an involuntary groan and buried his face in her neck, inhaling the smell of her – her soap, deodorant, shampoo, the lingering impression of the day's blood, sweat and tears. He began to kiss her neck.

She shivered and continued to run her fingers across his bare back. She didn't know what the hell she was doing, making out with Jack Quade of all people – a man everyone had warned her about when she'd started working here – she only knew that he was making her feel damn good in every sense of the word. "Jack?" she questioned him as she ran her fingers along the thin horizontal lines on the small of his back. There were a couple of them.

She had ten year's training as a nurse. She knew what the most likely cause of such marks were – brutal and frequent assaults with something long and fairly thin, like a belt.

Jack tensed up. "I'll tell you about it later," he said.

She liked the sound of his 'later' and moved her hands upwards. She moaned when he slid his hand between her legs. Oh, Christ, it had been ages, she'd forgotten how good it was.

Maybe she hadn't forgotten. Maybe it had never felt as good as this – and they had barely started. God knew it had to be good for her to forget herself like this, with nothing but a locked door between them and the place they both worked.

But it was more then just physically feeling good. There was a connection there. She had never spent that much time with Jack – just enough to idly wonder how much of his reputation as a compulsive seducer of nurses he was – but here and now, it felt like on some level she'd known him for ages. He made her feel strong, he made her feel protected, he made her feel relaxed and attractive and sexy.

His fingers fumbled with the top button of her pants, not an easy task given he was kissing her and supporting her back at the same time. She felt giddy by his kisses, his tongue probing her mouth, encouraging her to return the favour… she gasped when he finally got the button undone, pulled down the zipper and slid his fingers between her legs.

"Jack!" she half-whispered, half-groaned. She didn't know whether to feel trampy or delirious with desire to know that it hadn't taken much to get her wet, and what Jack was doing with his fingers wasn't helping. Within a minute she was squirming and whimpering.

He manoeuvred them both she was on her back on the bed, him on top of her, straddling her, his knees on the outside of her legs, pinning her down – as if she could possibly feel confined – resting the bulk of his weight on his knees. He did this without stopping the steady stream of kisses he was showering her with – not that she would have let him. She was as hungry for intimacy and connection as he was.

She slid her hands down the front of his chest, running her fingers along the top of his pants, enjoying the way he bucked involuntarily whenever she touched his bare skin. She found it odd that someone as aloof as Jack was craved physical touch as much as he did – or seemed to – but also endearing.

Jack, she decided, was someone she wanted to get to know more intimately. She couldn't help but find her thought amusing – she was already pretty intimate with him. She slid her hand further down his body to his groin, and was rewarded with an impressive hard-on. Jack groaned when she began rubbing him through the material of his pants . He hadn't had sex in nearly a year and he hadn't realised how much he'd missed it until five minutes ago.

Christ, he was completely hot for Gabrielle, and he had no idea why. He'd never been that fussed on blonds, and after Deanna he'd decided NUMs were completely off limits. Especially the ED ones.

But here was, making out with her in a consult room, fingering her, becoming aroused at the sounds she was making, and her own increased arousal – he couldn't remember wanting a woman as much. Not Deanna, certainly not Terri or – shit, what was her name again? Jack tried to remember the name of the girl he'd dated briefly last year, but he was drawing a blank, and gave up completely when Gabrielle applied more pressure to his groin.

"Sweetheart," he said, feeling strange for applying such an endearment to someone he barely knew professionally, let alone personally, but thinking it would be wrong not to apply an endearment at this stage, "do you want this?"

The question was so vague and out of the blue that Gabrielle stopped what she was doing and pulled away from Jack slightly so she could meet his eyes. "Huh?" she asked, confused.

"Do you want to have sex with me?"

The answer to the question was so obvious that Gabrielle couldn't help but laugh at the ludicrousness of Jack asking it. "Do you really have to ask that?" she asked incredulously.

"Humour me."

For a second, she tried to read him, wondering what had happened that he had to stop and ask for consent when consent should have been as plain as day. But Jack's eyes were like closed shutters, revealing nothing as he patiently waited for her to consent – or tell him to get the hell off her.

"Yes," she whispered, started up her hand motions again. "Yes, I want to have sex with you."

Jack rose to his knees and, in one swift motion, pulled off Gabrielle's pants and underwear. She couldn't help but blush slightly at how… exposed she was. In a consult room, no less.

"It's OK," she said when she caught him looking at her with concern. "It's just… not ideal." She'd prefer her bed. She'd prefer to not be insanely attracted to a surgeon with a reputation for sleeping with every woman who'd held her position.

"You want to stop?" he asked, determined to stop if she said so, although not entirely sure how he was going to achieve that. He wanted her badly. He wanted to be inside her, he wanted to kiss her, he wanted to hold her tightly.

"No," she said certainly. Then she blurted out, "I want you to kiss me again."

He wedged his hand between her legs, a silent command to open them. She did. He fumbled with his belt and zipper, pulling his pants down to his thighs, revealing an impressive erection which Gabrielle couldn't help but stare at until Jack gently moved her head up to face him. He lowered himself on top of her and kissed her as he pushed himself inside her.

Gabrielle gasped. She looped her arms under his and around his back and drew him tightly against her. "Jack," she murmured in a low, throaty voice. "Oh, God…" She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist as he began to thrust inside her and dug her fingers into his back.

"Gabrielle," he groaned. Oh, Christ she felt good. If he were thinking straight he could swear it had never been this good. "Oh, God, Gabrielle…" He kissed her neck, her face, pulled opened the buttons to her shirt, exposing her skin, her bra, fumbling with the clasp – why did things always take longer when he was in a hurry? – until he had it and was able to push the material up to expose her breasts. He fondled one breast and kissed the other. "Gabrielle," he groaned again.

"Gabby," she corrected him. Normally hated being called by anything but Gabrielle but it seemed so clumsy a name given he was saying it while he was nearly hoarse with desire and pumping her with increased franticness.

"Gabby," he repeated, grunting her name. He slid a hand down her body and stroked her while he was pumping.

She could feel an explosive orgasm build up, and started convulsing. She dug her fingers in deeper, wrapped her legs around him tighter and jerked against him uncontrollably. "Jack, Jack," she cried, until he mashed his mouth against hers, silencing her – or at least keeping them both quieter – as she experienced the greatest orgasm of her life.

A few seconds later, Jack buried his head in her neck and, with a drawn-out groan, climaxed himself. "Oh, God," he whispered. His mind was a complete blank apart from how absolutely fantastic this was and how he felt he was just coming and coming for at least thirty seconds.

He rolled onto his back, arched his back so he could get his pants back on, then sat up and watched Gabrielle work clumsily to dress herself. She suddenly felt very exposed and vulnerable, whereas seconds ago it had been fantastic.

She had just slept with Jack Quade. Although sleeping with seemed like too civilised a euphemism.

They had just fucked in a consult room with only a locked door between them and their colleagues – a locked door which probably hadn't kept the sounds of their frantic tryst to the room.

Jack felt very awkward all of a sudden, whereas a minute ago he'd felt like he was in heaven. It had seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do, but now…

Now it dawned on him that he'd taken Gabrielle – Gabby – like an animal in that place that they both worked. Where anyone could have heard them! Where anyone with a set of keys could have walked in on them!

Remorse set in. He couldn't say he wasn't attracted to her, couldn't say he didn't like her – or at least, what he knew of her – couldn't exactly say he wouldn't have done it all over again, having felt the same thing he had, but…

Oh, God, what have I done? I've just cemented my reputation.

"I want you to know, I've never done this before," he blurted out. At least that got Gabrielle to look at him – even if it was in disbelief. He immediately realised how his words had sounded. "I mean… I've never had sex in the hospital. I've never taken a colleague to bed – at least, not like this, " he added ruefully. "I've never not used a condom the first time. I – I don't know what came over me." He paused for a second then added, "I, uh, don't have anything to worry about, do I?"

Suddenly she wanted to smack him. As if things weren't awkward enough, he'd just implied - she didn't know exactly what he'd just implied, only that he wouldn't have said such a thing to Saint Terri.

Like he would have done Saint Terri on a hospital bed in a consult room.

She knew all about Terri Sullivan. It had been one of the main topics when people had warned her about Jack. Said he'd never properly gotten over her, hence why he dated her replacement - the abominable Deanna Richardson.

Oh, God, what had she been thinking?

Well, not much, beyond how ecstatic she had felt in his arms, having him inside her, bringing her to orgasm, climaxing inside her...

"Gabby," he prompted, and she realised she hadn't answered his question.

"Nothing for you to worry about," she said, and she was shorter with him then she'd meant to be.

"I'm sorry," he said, instantly contrite. "I've had syphilis, it's not fun. I get myself tested every three months and there hasn't been anyone for almost a year. Hell, you can ask Mike." The old hypocrite demanded all his surgeons get tested every three months - which Jack had already been doing - and hand over the results, even though he himself hadn't done it. No, that would have been too risky for a drug addict.

"That's a relief, then," she said hollowly. What the hell was she supposed to say? What the hell was she supposed to do?

"I want you to know I still respect you," he blurted out.

"Oh, you just know how to say all the right things, don't you?" she snapped.

He took her hand. Christ, but they had plenty of chemistry; she could feel it in his fingers threaded through hers. "Look, I'm only trying to do the right thing, OK? I like you and respect you and I don't have these bullshit double standards about it being OK for guys to do this kind of thing but not girls. Um... what's your number?"

"Why?"

"So I can post it online with a scathing review," he said sarcastically. "So I can call you and ask you out."

She raked her free hand through her hair. "Look, it was great and it was something I think we both needed.... but please don't insult my intelligence by acting like you'll call me."

He let go of her hand and crossed his arms over his chest. "Excuse me?" he asked coldly.

"I know your reputation, Jack. How many women have there been lately? I'm not going to be your latest fling. I feel bad enough being your latest lay."

He glowered. No point in telling her his reputation was hugely exaggerated; hadn't he already said it had been over a year since he'd been with anyone. She clearly didn't want to listen. "Fine," he said. "Thanks for the lay."

"You won't... tell anyone about this?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh, give me a break, Gabby... Gabrielle. Like I want people to know you knocked down flat anymore than you want people to know you're my latest... conquest. " He spoke the word as if it was filthy and got up to go.

Jack couldn't believe how disappointed he was that Gabrielle wouldn't let him take this any further, and he didn't know why. Well, apart from the obvious. But what they'd done - it was just a release after an extremely traumatic day, it didn't need to mean anything...

Oh, who was he kidding? Sex always meant something to him, and now he just felt cheap.

Strangely enough, almost as dirty as the first time Patrick Wesley had told him to co-operate or it would be a hell of a lot more painful. Although all the other times hadn't made him feel great, either. Or all the times Patrick had suggested ways he could make him happy without lying face-down...

For a split second, he thought about blurting out to Gabrielle what had happened to him, why the idea of a frantic tryst in a consult room made him feel cheap and dirty. That might score him the sympathy points needed to get her to stay the night. Then he realised what a dumb idea that was. Two people in the world knew.

Besides, he decided, he didn't want Gabrielle coming over just because she felt sorry for him. Instead, he walked out the door, mind full of thoughts but determined not to let Gabrielle know how disappointed he was that she wouldn't spend the night with him.

He opened the door to be greeted by Bianca Frost, a smug, triumphant look on her face. In her mind, he had just proven everything she thought about him – that he was a womaniser who systematically screwed every woman between twenty and forty in this hospital.

He walked right past her. He was in for it now, although there wasn't much she could do to him. He was firmly ensconced as one of Mike's favourites – a position Bianca didn't share – and having sex on hospital grounds was hardly as bad as something like negligence.

If Bianca thought she could rile him at a time like this by taunting him about his talent and sexuality, she could whistle for it.

"You got the scotch?" Dan asked the second Jack entered the living room.

Jack noted that Dan already had a hefty glass in front of him – and the first bottle was entirely empty. He couldn't really blame Dan. Getting thoroughly drunk seemed like a good idea right now. "Yep," he said.

Dan sipped his drink. Time to add some Coke, he thought, scotch on the rocks was starting to go to his head. "You want one?" Dan called to Jack's retreating back as he went to dump his stuff in the kitchen.

"Thanks," He went back to the living room, where Dan had poured him a drink. "Ta," he said.

They didn't talk much while they drank, even put a DVD on to create noise. They didn't want to talk – the company and shared experience of such a tragedy was enough.

Each lost in their own thoughts, the shrill ringing of the phone jolted them both back to reality – albeit a alcoholic one. "I'll get it," Dan mumbled, thinking maybe he should test his ability to stand at this point.

"Bianca!" he said, surprised to hear from her. They hadn't really spoken since he'd called off their affair. He blushed a little to remember it. That had been a huge mistake. Not just going back to her after he'd found out she was married, but the way he'd treated Jack over it – forcing him out of the house, pulling rank because it was 'his' house. Yes, it had been a lousy way to treat a friend, especially when it was just about getting laid.

"Dan," Bianca said in that syrupy voice she used for men she was fond of – and no-one else. "I heard about Sean. Are you OK?"

"As OK as can be," Dan said gruffly, suddenly not wanting to deal with Bianca. Lately he had been seeing more and more of her vicious side come out – not towards him, but towards people he knew – and she was the last person he wanted to deal with after such a crappy day. "Is there anything I can do for you?" If she came onto him, he was hanging up on her, he decided.

"Actually," Bianca said in that same sweet voice, "I was hoping I could speak to Jack."

"Jack?" Dan asked, surprised. Everyone knew Bianca couldn't stand Jack, and the feeling was increasingly mutual. Bianca had some kind of issue with him stemming way back. It was another reason Dan had found himself increasingly uncomfortable around his ex lately. It wasn't exactly her fault she didn't know about the shittiness in Jack's past, but it riled him nonetheless that she saw him as this womanising jerk who'd spent all his life living in easy street.

Dan handed over the phone. "Bianca," he said. Jack made a face and took the phone, walking into the kitchen.

"What?" he snapped. He was in no mood to deal with Bianca. Not that he was ever in the mood, but tonight of all nights –

"That's not very nice, Jack," Bianca cooed. "Especially given what I know."

"What do you know?" Jack asked tiredly. "I found her when I was looking for Charlotte and she needed someone to be with here."

"Be in her, you mean," Bianca said with a snort. "You fucked her. I heard you."

Jack cringed; he hated that particular euphemism for sex. "Got nothing better to do, then?" he jeered. He knew he wasn't doing himself any favours, egging her on, but he didn't care.

Bianca bristled. "It's not like you made it hard to ignore," she said. "Going at it like rabbits. Is she over?"

"No, she's not."

"Bored of your latest conquest already?"

Oh, why was he still talking to her? "For you information, she didn't want to spend the night," he said through gritted teeth. "Now, for the last time, what is it you want or I'm hanging up."

"You bastard," Bianca hissed. "You think you can fuck anyone. Just wait until I'm through with this, the two of you won't be able to hold your heads up."

Jack paled. He knew that wasn't true. For him to have sex with a nurse was no big deal – just another surgeon playing around. It would reflect much more poorly on Gabrielle. It the ongoing double standard, that men were able to sleep around and be heroes but the women they slept with were sluts. "She's got nothing to do with this," he said.

"Oh, you had nothing to do with me being banned from the ED?" Bianca snapped. Gabrielle had complained to admin about the way Bianca treated her nursing staff – with the exception of Dan – and now it as always another trauma surgeon that got called into the really 'sexy' trauma cases that were presented to the ED. Bianca had been angry enough when it had happened, but to find out now that Jack was screwing the woman who'd had her banned – she'd never thought much of Gabrielle Jaeger, she was just the kind of plain, dumpy woman who'd do whatever her lover told her to do in order to keep him.

"Gabby had you banned because you're a bitch to her staff, that's not my fault," Jack snapped back. He couldn't help himself, Bianca was being a cow and she couldn't take responsibility for the fact her unpleasant personality was the reason so many HoDs disliked working with her.

"So it's Gabby now?" Bianca asked with such sickening sweetness that Jack felt like he'd just eaten a massive amount of fairy floss and was going to be sick. Gabrielle had made it clear – she was very capable of being insulting despite a lack of sophisticated wit – that her name was Gabrielle, not Gabby, and only a few special people got to call her that – of which Bianca was not one of them. She had followed that up by simply refusing to respond to anything when Bianca spoke to her as Gabby. "Gosh, I can't imagine what people will think when they find out about you and Gabby?"

Jack's blood went cold. Although he'd been disappointed that Gabrielle wanted nothing more to do with him, he couldn't really blame him, given his foul reputation, and if her reputation was a bigger priority then exploring their chemistry, well, that was her prerogative. Bianca had no right to turn it into something seedy. But then, that was exactly what Bianca did, she assumed everything he did was seedy. She had convinced herself without even knowing him that he was a creep and by extension, any woman he was with was a slut. Especially when that woman had had her banned from the ED. "You're a real cunt, you know that!" he yelled at her. It was a statement, not a question.

In frustration, he slammed down the phone and stormed back into the living room. He slumped down on the couch and emptied his half-remaining beer in one go, causing Dan to stare at him in amazement. He knew Jack had a tendency to drink when he was angry or distressed – how much his ongoing issues with Patrick Wesley and Travis Knight were getting him down could usually be gauged in how quickly he was going through cartons of beer and bottles of scotch – but he'd never see Jack down a beer like that. "Something wrong?" he asked, his own emotional turmoil put on the backburner in light of Jack's distress and anger. Jack and Bianca's mutual dislike of each other was public knowledge, but Jack had never lost it at her like that. What the hell had gotten into him? Apart from Sean's death, that was.

Jack looked forlorn and blurted out, "I fucked Gabby."

"Huh?" For a second Dan was so stunned by the news that he didn't process it. Jack never used that word in that context, said it was too demeaning and he should know about demeaning sexual experiences.

"Gabby. Gabrielle. Your boss. I fucked her." He couldn't bring himself to try dressing it up by saying they had sex or made love or any of those euphemisms. It had been nothing more then a base animal copulation.

Dan nearly spat out his beer. "I'm sorry – when?" he asked.

"A bit after you went home. I was looking for Charlotte and I found Gabrielle and she was really upset and one thing led to another – shit, I didn't mean for it to happen."

"Whoa." Dan was too stunned by the news to say anything else. Jack and Gabrielle. It wasn't as if they hated each other, but they had very little to do with one another. Gabrielle had been warned from day one of Jack's inclination towards the ED's NUM and had had as little to do with him socially as she could manage, and Jack wasn't someone who made friends easily. "So... what do you do now?"

Jack shrugged. "Not much I can do. She made it clear she's not interested in seeing me, said she's worked too hard to be respected to have her name linked to mine."

"Ouch."

"Can't say I blame her, but... Dan, I can't explain what we had in there. I've never thought about her in that way before, but as soon as we kissed it was like I was planning our relationship. I've never just switched on to someone like that before. And 'cos I have this awful reputation with women – which, by the way, I only deserve about a tenth of it – he doesn't want anything to do with me." He sighed. It wasn't fair. Deanna had held court at Cougars for two weeks after her departure, telling anyone who would listen that Jack was a womaniser and selfish pig in bed. No-one put much credence in anything Deanna Richardson had to say, but when anyone said scandalous enough things enough times, well, something was bound to stick. And then Bianca had come along and told anyone who would listen what she thought of womanising, selfish-in-bed Jack Quade who had never had to work a day in his life. "And now Bianca's convinced the reason Gabrielle had her banned from the ED was because of me."

Dan's brow furrowed. "I really don't understand, Jack. What's Bianca got to do with this?"

"She was standing outside the door when I left. I don't know if she saw me go in there and decided to wait and see if she could catch me out or she just had the good fortune to be passing at the time but she's convinced we've been having this torrid affair for months and that's why Gabrielle had her banned."

"Gabrielle had her banned because she was putting down all the staff," Dan pointed out, She'd particularly gunned for Erica. Bianca thought like a particularly possessive man when it came to her previous sexual partners, that part of Dan still belonged to her and as such, Erica was too close for comfort.

"You and I know that, hell, everyone but she knows that. She doesn't need anything but her own warped opinion. I don't much care what she says about me – " the said reality of being a surgeon was that the worst reputation you had when it came to using and discarding women, the better you looked " – but if she decides to go after Gabrielle, she can trash her reputation inside of a week." No way would Gabrielle's quiet, unassuming sincerity and integrity hold out again Bianca's ongoing assault of rumour and bitchy gossip. Which was the main thing he detested about Bianca. She herself slept around and treated everyone she considered beneath her like garbage – which was most of the population – but she attacked other people's integrity so loudly and relentlessly that the person had no chance to defend themselves.

"So what are you going to do?" Dan resisted the urge to ask Jack if he thought he had made a better or worse judgement then the time he'd gotten Charlotte drunk in a one-night stand. At least Charlotte hadn't had someone like Bianca Frost trying to undermine her.

Jack pushed his head back into the couch as if he could disappear into it. A nice big hole that would swallow him up would be really handy right now. "I don't know," he groaned. "I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do. I want to protect her but she doesn't want anything to do with me."

Dan chewed on his lip for a few seconds, trying to think of a way that would get Jack out of this pickle. It was a pity Gabrielle had turned him down flat because having a girlfriend might do him the world of good right now. Dan had never met anyone in desperate need of hugs, but he was far too homophobic to let Dan touch him, let alone hug him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "That will be Bart," Dan said, getting up. "I can send him away, if you want."

"Thanks, but no," Jack said. "You, uh... won't tell him about this, will you? I realise I can't really stop it if Bianca's determined to ruin her, but I'd rather keep this to ourselves for the time being."

"Of course," Dan said. It was about the only thing he could do for his friend right now.