Title: Once & Always

Title: Once & Always
Part: Prologue
Author: Adeline (gossy16@yahoo.com)
Category: AU, Luka & Abby
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Season 6.
Summary: FUTURE FIC. Luka and Abby never dated. They've been on parallel tracks all their lives, and meet again away from County several years later.
Archive: Soon to be at my site, FanFiction.Net, and ERTVOnline. Ask permission to put up anywhere else.
Song: Two lines from Sarah McLachlan's "Fear," which I was listening to while writing and it just seemed to fit.

Disclaimer: Most characters in this story aren't mine. But the story is, and, four, count 'em 4, characters are mine as well. HA! :P

Notes: This is a "Once & Again" type o' fic, and for the purpose of this story, some things I wrote I'm sure will make ya want to throw things at me. But personally, and that's just an opinion, I think you should reconsider. :)


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"Once & Always," Prologue, by Adeline (gossy16@yahoo.com).


"Mom?" Carol was oblivious.

"Mom..." Focused on the road and nothing else.

"Mom!!" The twins chorused, annoyed that their mother wouldn't acknowledge them. But even that didn't work wonders. Tess and Kate exchanged an exasperated look and rolled eyes. Why, when all else fails...

"CAROL MARIE HATHAWAY KOVAC!!!"

"What?" Carol finally reacted, and Tess was finally able to ask what she'd been meaning to.

"Mom, can I ask you again, why do we have to go see our father now? I mean, we're fourteen, damnit! He don't care about us!"

"Yeah!" Kate agreed eagerly.

Without a word, Carol slowed the car and quickly parked on the hard shoulder, shaking her head in disapproval as she did so. Then she unbuckled her security belt, and shifted on her seat to look her eldest in the eye.

"Tess, I forbid you to ever say that again. Don't even think it, okay? You too, Kate."

"Why not?" spat the youngest.

"Because it's not true. Doug loves you two very much."

"Us two, huh?" Tess sulkily looked away, while Kate was admiring the purple paint on her fingernails in denial.

Carol sighed sadly. "Don't... Don't start with that, we've been through this before." The girls ignored this and stayed aloof. "Look at me." Surprisingly enough, they obeyed. "It *is* different with Evan and Tim, he doesn't know them. But that doesn't mean Luka loves *you* any less, you know that."

Kate looked up, and Carol noticed how her eyes were glowing with unshed tears. Tess kept looking out her window. She'd always been the stronger of the two, or at least that's how she wanted to be perceived. But Carol had learned to see through it a long time ago. Luka had learned to see through it a long time ago. But they'd always figured, so long as she could fool herself she would be alright.

"You are Doug's children after all, and it's his right to see you." Carol said softly, perfectly knowing that her 'babies' weren't ready as she wished they had been.

A hot tear escaped Kate and landed on her cheek with the weight of doubts, uncertainty, and the million questions which had been gnawing at her ever since she had known about 'her other dad'. It was shortly before Evan was born, and Doug had come see her and Tess in Chicago soon afterwards, but she didn't remember much of that one short visit years ago, now.

Tess did remember. And she was not alright. "Yah. Like once every six years!"

Carol knew they were shaken, and so she let this slide. Come to think of it, she was pretty shaken herself. She was a mixture of anxious and excited, but the strange thing was, that somewhere at the back of her mind, she felt peaceful.

She resumed driving down the Interstate, and an hour later, they were several miles into Wisconsin.


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"Joint custody, okay with you?" Abby questioned her soon-to-be ex-husband. "I'll try to drop the papers by the lawyer's office after work tomorrow."

"Sure thing." Michael Saltzberg, 44, replied, lovingly still. "Whatever you like."

Abby rubbed her neck and looked up from the papers she was filling out, and made a note to herself to never again fill out papers when sitting on the edge of a bed. "No, Mike, it's important. Are you gonna be able to take
Adam and Jane with you at any given time, yes or no?"

"Yes, yes!" He sighed. "Of course, I will."

"Well, you never know..." Abby sniped.

Michael stood up and folded out his arms, then held his right hand up in front of him as if to stop her words from getting to him. "No, Abby, no. No. Don't talk to me like I'm... this horrible, immature, irresponsible person..." He paused shortly, choosing his words. "You're the one who wanted a divorce, not I, and I'll take care of my kids for as long as they need me." He eventually dropped his arm and let his hand rest on his hip. "And, beyond."

Abby apologetically looked up at him and said nothing. Michael crouched to meet her eyeline and sorrowfully sighed. "Look, I've said I was sorry a million times - I always meant it, and I still am. You know full well that I
still love you. Why can't we--"

Before he could finish, Abby silenced him by a finger on his lips, and she smiled bittersweetly as she slowly shook her head and whispered. "No. I'm not happy, Michael. I know I'm not making you happy. This is probably
for the best, and you'll get by."

She took her finger away, but Michael didn't try to argue. He just looked intently into her eyes and held her gaze for a minute. He knew Abby had beautiful things hidden inside, but he had never been able to see very
deep into her. And he knew he was never going to.


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I fear, I have nothing to give
And I have so much to lose.

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So he nodded ever-so-slightly and murmured sweetly, almost inaudibly as though he didn't want to hear himself say it. "Okay... Okay."

Abby closed her eyes and swallowed hard. "Thank you."


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Part 1 to come not-so-soon *if* there's interest. Thanks in advance for all
kinds of feedback!

~Adeline.