Author's Note – Part 1: This fic was originally written in from January – September 2001. And it was publish on FF sites that are now long, long gone. I sincerely thank the Calzona (Grey's Anatomy) fandom and its FF writers for reminding me that FF isn't dead and in the general scheme of things, this fic isn't completely half bad. So therefore, It deserves to be reborn as it was originally enjoyed by a few. Holla out to any Chalupas still out there and a deep longing kiss to seven special women, who should know who they are.

Author's Note – Part 2: the italicized parts are internal dialogue, which I am/was kinda obsessed with

Author's Note – Part 3: All "ER" characters and institutions are the property of Warner Bros., ConstantC Productions and Amblin Television. "Bugs Bunny" characters and institutions belong to Warner Bros. Karen and Aimee – they are mine, all mine!) Janet Jackson belongs to Virgin Records. Scrabble is a trademark of Hasbro Inc. The rules of Strip Scrabble contained within this fanfic were created by ME. Characters from "When Harry Met Sally" were created by the late, great Nora Ephron.

I mean no harm. Strictly for enjoyment purposes only.

Hella Crazy Thanks to: Sonnychibagrrl and Shannon (thanks for the inspiration(s) and all the fanfic talkdowns – Parts 3 & 4 would NEVER-ever have been born had it not been for the two of you – kneeling before you both with chocolate and strawberries) and Wigbee (thanks for the use of "Chief")

Beta: none, so all the mess is my own

Chapters: 1 (originally written in January 2001), 2 (originally written in February 2001), 3 (Originally written June 2001), and 4 (Originally written in September 2001)

Present Day (approximately three weeks after Kim and Kerry's first night together)

Dammit! Kerry punched her steering wheel. She leaned back, closed her eyes and let out a cleansing sigh.

"You did the right thing. You did the right thing. You did…..," Kerry stopped her mantra mid-sentence.

She looked down at her beeper. It was Kim. Sweet, beautiful Kim. Kerry fumbled through her purse and found her cell phone. But before she had a chance to dial, it rang.

Shit!, she thought. She had told Carter to call her in the car if any of the sweatshop victims' statuses changed, she answered, "Dr. Weaver."

"Dr. Weaver, you are wanted here STAT."

Kerry let out another sigh and softened her voice. "Hey, you. You're certainly a voice for sore ears."

Although Kim was called to the ER on five consults today, none of the requests came from Kerry. "So, how did it end up tonight? I'm really sorry we didn't get a chance to steal a moment."

"Me too. Well, at least I got to admire you a few times from across the room."

Kim laughed. Kerry sighed again.

"Kerry, you did the right thing. You did what you had to do. What you were required to do. You can't keep beating yourself up for this. You're not the bad guy in all this. You do know that don't you?"

"Yeah I do." Kerry's voice started to crack. She was beginning to cry. She quickly cleared her throat, "Listen, I don't want to think about it...at least not tonight."

"Fine. You got it. How far away are you?"

"I actually just got in the car."

"Perfect, dinner should be ready by the time you get here."

"You cooked?"

Kim laughed. "Yes, I cooked. After my shift, I ran to Jewels to pick up a few things."

"What's on the docket this evening, my lady?"

"Chicken Kiev."

Kerry smiled. Chicken Kiev was what Kerry cooked for Kim the next night after their talk at Doc Magoos. They've now christened that next evening as their official first date. And as Kim calls it, it is their first date where they were both 'in the same place.' Chicken Kiev has quickly become very meaningful to them.

"I thought today called for Chicken Kiev," Kim said, as if reading Kerry's mind. "And before you say anything, yes, this time I am following all the directions. No embellishing the recipe and no burnt dinner tonight."

"I'm going to make a real chef out of you yet."

Kim continued stirring the butter melting in the saucepan. "You know I am actually enjoying this. And to think a month ago my pantry was filled with ramen noodles and mac & cheese." Kim put down the spoon and started to laugh. "Hey, did I tell you my mom is ecstatic that I'm cooking? I never in a million years thought I would be using more than two stove burners at a time and here I am with breadcrumbs in my hair. How will I ever repay you?"

"Quid pro quo, remember?"

"Hmmmm, hurry up and get here."

"On my way." As Kerry was about to fold her cell phone, she quickly added, "Kim? Kim? You still there?"

"Kerry? Yeah? What? What's wrong?"

"I-I-I can't wait to see you."

"Me too. Bye."

"Bye."

Kerry closed her phone and proceeded to race down I-94.

The traffic is light tonight. It will probably only take 30 minutes to get to Kim's, Kerry thought.

It's been three weeks since that night at Doc Magoos.

Three weeks ago (immediately after Episode 7x11, "Rock, Paper, Scissors")

Kerry walked towards the exit. Oh, Carter. What the hell is she going to do with Carter? Vicodin. What the hell was he thinking? Kerry's head hurt.

She now stood in front of the ER doors. Finally. For the first time in 10 hours, Kerry felt some peace, some quiet, some solace. With each deep breath she took, she allowed more cold air to fill her lungs. Good thoughts in; Bad thoughts out.

Today was a typical non-stop day in the ER: Mr. Polarski's bi-weekly visit; Carter's drug mule; Kovac's Bishop; and that poor woman, who lost both her husband and her daughter. Damn drunks! But then there was Kim.

Their kiss in the lounge sent Kerry running for the hills. For the last two weeks, Kerry had managed to avoid Kim successfully. The immediate days after the kiss, Kerry prayed that Kim would not ambush her again. Kerry needed space. She needed to detox – detox from Kim, from the kiss. Kerry hovered over the admit desk as much as she could, allowing her to overhear when the other doctors asked Randi to page the Psych Department for a consult. She would turn her keen hearing to hypersensitive, filter the noise for Kim's voice or the mention of her name, and duck into the safety of the supply room.

A week after the kiss, Kerry would spin around each time the door to the lounge opened, hoping it was Kim. But for the next few days, the ER did not require one psych consult.

Then Kerry started to miss Kim. She even called Kim at home only to find that Kim's answering machine still did not work.

And in the last few days, not seeing Kim was almost habit. Even Lady Luck lent a hand: all of Kerry's patients during the last fortnight did not require a psych consult. Until Mr. Polarski.

Damn her! And her eyebrows! And her smirk! And her condescending tone! And Carter for paging Kim! And my heart for jumping when Kim found me in the drug room! And my mind for being so defensive and sarcastic!

One thing Kerry did know was she did not want Kim out of her life. On the contrary, Kim was the best thing to happen to Kerry in a very long time. She is a great listener. She is a respected colleague. And she is just so beautiful. Oh, and they work well together. Kerry did not want to lose this special bond that she had been searching for a long time. It was the next steps that scared Kerry. Kerry hated being surprised. She hated being unprepared. She hated not excelling at everything. And what Kim wanted from Kerry was something new.

Kerry continued the short walk to Doc Magoos. Thank goodness, Kim told her office where she would be. I hope she's still there. I hope she's alone. I hope I figure out what I'm going to say. Kerry took one more hit of cold air and opened the door. Exhale, Bad thoughts out.

Kerry hated Kim's tone. Kerry did not want to return to being friendly coworkers. They had come so far. Kerry did not want that and told Kim. But Kim got up and started to leave. No, wait, don't leave. I thought that's what you wanted to hear!

"Kim, please." No, not the coat. Please put the coat down! Kerry was screaming in her head.

As Kim put her coat on, Kerry got up and placed herself squarely in front of Kim.

"I'd like you to stay."

Kerry had blocked Kim in. She held Kim's right hand and placed her cane on Kim's left.

Kim looked at Kerry for what seemed like hours. Kerry searched Kim's face for a hint of what she was feeling. Nothing.

"Fine. You have 5 minutes."

Kim sat back down and looked at Kerry stoned faced. Although Kerry was excited over Kim staying, she was unnerved by the loud silence between them.

Kerry quickly and awkwardly asked, "Did you have dinner?"

Kim stared at Kerry, expressionless and nodded.

"OK, how about I order some coffee and dessert?"

Kim nodded again.

Say something. Say anything. Something funny. I need to at least make her smile, Kerry thought. "Bugs Bunny," Kerry blurted.

Kim arched an eyebrow. "Bugs Bunny?"

"Yes, yes, what's your favorite Bugs Bunny episode?"

"What's my favorite Bugs Bunny episode?"

Kerry smiled at the progress. Complete silence to mimicking - we're getting there, Kerry thought. "I love Bugs Bunny. One of my favorite things to do is to watch Bugs Bunny. I have about 10 Bugs Bunny video tapes."

Kim continued her staring and then began to laugh. Kerry shoots, she scores! "Interesting, you never struck me as a Bugs Bunny fan."

"There's a lot about me that you don't know. Things I'd like to share with you." Kerry was taken aback by her own forwardness.

Kim continued to laugh as she shook her head. "You're making it very difficult for me to continue being mad at you."

Kerry smiled big. "Well," Kerry teased. "Which one?"

Kim paused. "I'd like to think that my favorite was the one with the orange monster wearing….."

Kerry was nodding. "…the tennis shoes," they said in unison.

"You monsters live such interesting lives," Kerry said repeating the famous Bugs Bunny line. "That's my favorite also. Actually, there were only two Bugs Bunny's with the orange monster. There's the one where Bugs is doing Gossamer's hair and the other one where he's doing Gossamer's nails."

Kim smiled and just stared once again at Kerry. "You know you are just one big mystery."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Oh, it's definitely a good thing."

Kerry wanted to keep the conversation light. She didn't want to talk about their kiss, their Thanksgiving dinner, their kiss, their professional arguments today, or their kiss. And quite frankly, she wasn't ready to talk about their future. She just wanted to continue to look at Kim. Kerry stayed on the topic of TV. She loved to watch Kim laugh. Just like she did during Thanksgiving, before there was any tension between them.

"How about the one with the monster on the airplane wing?"

Kerry nodded in agreement. "Oh, I loved that one. Did you know the guy in the plane was William Shatner?"

"From the Twilight Zone to the Space Ship Enterprise. That's some serious jet lag." Kim laughed at her own joke and began to survey Doc's to find empty tables around them.

Kerry looked at her watch. They have once again managed to close a restaurant; she was shocked that it had been four hours since she had begged Kim to stay.

"How about you?" Kim asked.

"Huh? I'm sorry, Kim. How about me, what?"

"I have an early shift tomorrow," Kim continued, looking at her watch, "Actually later today. How about you?"

"Me too."

"Ready to blow this pool hall?"

Kerry nodded at Kim as she, to herself, damned time for moving. No, Kerry wasn't ready to leave. Or ready to stop looking at Kim. Or ready to stop listening to Kim laugh. Reality took hold; she had to be back at work in less than 5 hours.

That night, they shared two pots of coffee and split 4 pieces of chocolate mousse pie.

As Kim gathered her papers and started to slide out of the booth, Kerry asked, "Are you available this evening for dinner?"

"Kerry Weaver, are you asking me out on a date?" Kim's expression did not fit her teasing tone. Kim looked like she had just given Kerry a test and was anxious for the result. Kim was baiting Kerry.

"Um, yeah. Yes. Yes, I am. How about you come over to my place after our shifts." Kim began to walk towards the door. Kerry following behind, continued, "I'm a really good cook, so I've been told. Any dietary requirements I should know about?"

"No. I love all food." Kim stopped walking, looked deep into Kerry's eyes and smiled. "I'm looking forward to this."

"Great, me too." Kerry smiled at Kim. Inside, Kerry was jumping up and down because she had passed the test.