Everyone Loves Carter

-One Shot-

When Dr. Allison Blake asked Sheriff Jack Carter to be her birthing partner, she honestly thought that it would be a good idea. After all, Jack wasn't necessarily new to the whole thing, now was he? In another sense, it was her way of keeping the two of them together, keeping her closer to him than anyone else.

That was until Dr. Tess Fontana became a part of the picture... Allison could feel him, Jack, slipping away from her.

Allison found herself forcing that indulgent smile that had Tess fully unaware, as she prattled on about how great Jack was, and how she might, okay, really did like him.

'Yes, yes he is. No, he most certainly is not! You don't know Jack at all!" she thought as Tess went on yet another female confession of desire and attraction.

Tess must have noticed the shift in mood and glanced over at Allison, whose forced smile had slipped while Tess was talking.

"Allison, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, shifting to place a gentle hand on Allison's shoulder.

Looking into Tess's eyes Allison felt herself snap. She was tired, irritated, and had as much of this as she could take. She wanted Jack, damn it! She had wanted him since they first met; some part of her wanted him while she was back with Nathan, and all of her wanted him now!

"No."

"Allison?" Tess asked confused, worry clearly showing in her eyes.

"No, I'm not okay. I'm tired. I am just so tired of listening to your constant babble about Sheriff Carter!" Allison snapped, surprising both of them.

"Um… I don't… know what to say… Um… Allison, do you… I don't know… do you have feelings for Jack?" Tess stumbled out.

With a resigned sigh, Allison looked away, a hand reflexively coming to rest on her stomach. So she would have to admit it aloud, would she? Looking back at Tess, she saw that she would.

Giving another sigh, Allison began to speak, "Yes. I thought I could sit back and just let him be happy with someone else, but I just don't think I can do that anymore." Allison paused, taking a deep breath of air and releasing it, before looking Tess straight in the eyes. "Tess, I'm sorry, but I can't just give Jack to you. Not without trying…"

A sweet smile, a very Tess smile, settled over the red-blonde's face. "Allison, I had no idea." Her smile never faltered and appeared to be real as she spoke, "I suppose this makes us rivals."

"Rivals for what?" came from the doorway as Zane walked into the room without knocking. Tess and Allison jumped, clearly startled. Neither woman had noticed him until he spoke, which both found equally embarrassing. What if it had been Jack!?

"Nothing you would be interested in, I assure you," Allison said turning to face him, while clearing her throat uncomfortably, a warm blush tinting her face light red.

"It's about Jack, right?" Zane said, both women flushing as the young man guessed the object of their discussion so easily. "So… you two are rivals in Jacks affection? Man, I was wondering how long it would take the 'both' of you to realize that…" He said, adding an exaggerated roll of his eyes for an exasperated affect.

"Did you need something!?" Allison asked a bit too sharply, embarrassment coloring her face a brighter shade of red.

"Hmm… Nope!" Zane shrugged with a charming grin. "A thought came to mind, but I have already forgotten it! I'll just leave you two lovely ladies alone to conspire against each other!" With a small wave, he turned to leave but stopped when he reached the door, turning slightly to look back at them. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't breathe a word to anyone! Scouts honor!" He saluted them, turned back to the door, and then was gone without another word.

Both women gaped at the now closed doorway that Zane had exited, bemused and a bit shell-shocked.

~ Zane + Jack ~

"Mine…" Zane mumbled as he hovered over Jack possessively. Jack was lying naked on his stomach, slightly confused by Zane's overly zealous behavior tonight. Despite his looks and the impression one might get from him, Zane normally took things slowly and softly drawing out their time together till it was almost unbearable. Another thing that told Jack that something was wrong was the fact Zane refused to let him look at him when normally it was Zane who always insisted on facing him and watching his face whether Jack wanted him to or not.

"Zane?" Jack asked a little worried, as he flipped onto his back, easily twisting away from the hands that tried to detain him, so he could look up at his lover. "Is something wrong?"

"Jack, just for the sake of… say, my ego…" Zane paused, staring down at Jack with burning eyes that made Jack emit an audible gasp as he tried to catch his breath. "Can you look at me and honestly say that I'm the only one you need, that you don't want anyone else but me?"

"Zane…" Jack started, wondering what had happened today to make Zane ask such an odd and unexpected question, when he himself thought things were going fine between them. Was he sending mixed signals without knowing it? Did his actions make Zane uncomfortable, in the terms of their relationship? Did he do something to cause the worry that he saw so clearly now, written in tense lines on Zane's usually carefree face?

"Jack, please just answer me. I need this. I need to hear it." Zane's words were strained as he leaned down and rested his head on Jack's shoulder, breathing in the scent that was purely Jack, as he began to nuzzle Jack's neck. "I just don't think I could handle seeing you being taken away by someone else."

"Is this about Tess? You told me to…" Jack began, his confusion starting to clear just a bit.

Zane lifted his head up and looked Jack in the eyes, his tight-lipped expression of pain and near defeat shutting the Sheriff up effectively. "Jack… I know what I said… I'm just so tired of running around in secret, hiding our relationship from everyone… I'm tired of not being able to turn down Jo completely, because I can't say, 'Sorry Jo, I'm seeing someone else' or 'Sorry Jo, I'm madly in love with your boss'. I am even more tired of the fact that I can't just come out and tell Allison and Tess to back the fuck off, because you belong to me!"

Jack stared up at Zane, more than a bit shocked. "Allison and Tess? Wait! Madly in love? You love me?!" That was the first time he had heard those words from Zane's lips. Actually, he thought that they would be the last words he'd ever hear the other man say to him.

"You kiddin' me?! I love you so much that it's starting to drive me insane every time someone looks at you! Mainly because I can't say anything to anyone, but still…" Zane admitted glancing away from Jack's face, embarrassed.

Jack was so happy that he might as well have been glowing with the warmth he drew from those three words. He beamed up at Zane, a fresh blush pinking his cheeks as he smiled happily, who dared to glance back down at him.

So it seemed that a not so strategically placed 'I love you' from Zane had the ability to distract Sheriff Jack Carter from the path of their current conversation and that the purest smile from Carter was like kryptonite for one rebellious genius known as Zane Donovan.

"I love you, too."

~ FIN ~