Author's Note- I warned you guys not to expect much. But, since you asked nicely, here's another.

Disclaimer- I don't own it. Not even close.

Thunder, Lightening, and One Hell of a Storm: Two-

-Kate's POV-

Kate checked her watch for what seemed the thousandth time. "Where the hell are they?"

Curtis only shook his head.

"You know Megan, she'll only leave when she's ready to, not before." Ethan shrugged, forking a large bite of bright green cake into his mouth.

"Okay. This is ridiculous." Sam said, approaching their group and speaking under the general babble that permeated Bud's living room. "Where are Megan and Peter? He left to get her almost half an hour ago and things are starting to wind down here. Jeannie's getting concerned. They're gonna have to start unwrapping the gifts or we'll be here past midnight."

"He said he'd be right-" Kate stopped as the phone in her purse vibrated, dinging softly. "Text. From Peter." She said the last with relief as she spotted the name floating in the blue background. Flicking a finger over it, she opened it to read. The text was longer than she expected it to be.

"Any news?" Jeannie asked, not for the first time, coming to stand with their small group. Bud's hand was on the small of her back, offering her a gentle support for her pregnant belly. "Are they coming?"

Everyone looked to Kate, but she didn't pay any attention to them, or to what they were saying. Her eyes darted over the words, trying to make sense of them, but failing.

"Dr. Murphy?" Ethan questioned. "What'd Peter's text say?"

Slowly, her gaze tracked up to his. "From Megan." She corrected. Why did she say that? What the hell did it matter? It wasn't important. But for some reason, it seemed the most glaring irregularity. Something to cling to in the sea of normality around her so that she remembered that there was indeed something very wrong with this picture. "Peter's phone, Megan's text."

"Why is Megan using Peter's phone?" Curtis asked, confused.

All the faces around Kate were confused. She shook her head, swallowed, and cleared her throat. "Peter's been stabbed." Before anyone's shocked expressions could turn to questions, she started speaking, fast and forcefully. "Wilson attacked Megan. Curtis, I want you back at the office to oversee things. Now. Ethan, go with him, we'll need someone to process Wilson's body."

"Wilson's body?" Bud asked.

"Is Megan alright?" Ethan babbled.

She spoke over them. "They're at Penn already, I'm headed over there now-"

"Well, Bud's going with you." Jeannie spoke up. She looked over at her husband with concerned eyes, hand going to his stomach. "Right?"

After a second of indecision, Bud nodded.

"Let's go." Kate said quietly, heading for the door. Bud and Sam followed, while Curtis was trying to keep Ethan walking while he called questions at her back.

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center was only a few blocks from the MEO, and not too far from Bud's house. Yet still, it felt like it took ages to get to there, as though they were moving in slow motion rather than speeding slightly. The building was unassuming from the outside. Red bricked like most of downtown Philly and only about seven stories tall. Yet the difference between rushing up the front walk and standing in the middle of the ER was enough to force Kate to take a small step backward. For just a second, she stood at a loss as to what she needed to do next. The sound of a loud, familiar voice saved her mind from having to come up with a game plan.

"I told you, I'm fine!"

Hurrying over to a drawn curtain, Kate yanked it aside.

Megan Hunt, her subordinate, looked like she was going to start a fire using merely her eyes. She was sitting half-on, half-off of a medical cot as though she had been trying to rise, dressed in a blue hospital gown that was riding up one thigh. A harried-looking nurse was trying to put medical tape over the stitches she had just finished on Megan's hands and glanced at the intruders hopefully. She looked like she would give her next paycheck if someone, maybe anyone, had come to her rescue.

"You can-"

"Megan."

The woman stopped mid-sentence and turned toward them, giving them all a view of the previously obscured left side of her face.

Bud swore.

Kate had to try and suppress her involuntary wince. The side of the ME's face was badly bruised, the slight swelling stretching from the middle of her cheek up past her eyebrow.

"Nice shiner." Sam commented.

When Megan saw them, her expression turned almost as relieved as the nurse's. "Kate, Bud, Sam. Thank god. Please, tell this woman all this is completely unnecessary."

Without speaking, Kate took one of Megan's hands gently to examine it.

"I've got all of the glass out and the stitches done, but now..."

She smiled at the nurse. "Yes, I see, thank you." Reaching down, she picked up the medical tape, cut a piece off and continued where the woman had left off.

"Kate, come on. We've wasted enough time already." Megan said irritably.

"The doctor said you needed a CT scan." The nurse scolded.

"It's a mild concussion at worst. I was only unconscious for a few minutes." Megan tried once again to get out of the bed, but Kate held her hands in place while she worked under the nurses watchful eye.

"What the hell happened, Doc?" Bud asked, eying her hands.

"Is Peter okay?" Sam added.

Even with her eyes glued to her colleagues palms, Kate spotted the fall in Megan's facial features.

"Peter's in surgery." The other ME's voice was so quiet, they could barely hear. "He..." She cleared her throat. "He lost a lot of blood. That's all I know about his condition. For now." She again glared at the nurse. "If I could just go check on him-"

"Megan, you've got six stitches in your hands. Two here, one here, another two... You need to be treated and you of all people should know how important CAT scan's are." The woman opened her mouth to argue but Kate cut her off, even as she applied the last little piece of tape. "Plus, you look like crap and we need a better explanation of what happened. Peter's not going anywhere."

Blinking at her, Megan took her hands back.

"Now-" Kate turned her head, switching her gaze to the large bruise on Megan's exposed thigh. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"