Title: Beginnings
Rating: PG
Spoilers: No
Author's Note: Merry Christmas Brookestar!

Elements: a blackout at night, mood "cheeky", 4 goofy passport photos (the kind with friends, in a row going down)

Beginnings

Christmas, 2005

Abby walks briskly, head down, teeth chattering, and trying in vain to protect herself from the rapidly falling snow. She clings to a festively wrapped package, hugging it to her body in an attempt to keep warm. A sudden burst of frigid air makes her pause as it nearly knocks her off balance.

"Son of a bitch!"

It is Christmas Eve, and she is headed to the ER's annual holiday party, this year to be held at Carter's house. She rings the bell, jumping around and doing a little dance to try and keep warm. The sound of footsteps approaches and the door opens, revealing Carter with an amused look on his face.

"Cold?" he asks, stepping aside to allow her in.

Abby rolls her eyes in mock annoyance before a confused look crosses her face. "Am I early?"

Carter, still looking quite amused, glances at his watch. "No, you're right on time."

"Where is everyone?"

Carter smiles as he helps her remove her coat. "Did you watch the news tonight?"

"No…"

"Listen to the radio?"

Abby's mock annoyance is being quickly replaced by annoyance that is quite real. "Carter…"

"They're predicting 10 inches of snow. Possibly some ice as well. I think the rest of the ER had enough sense to stay home. Not that I'm not flattered you would risk your life to come to my party…"

Abby defensively puts her hands up. "Okay, okay, I'm an idiot. I guess I should have realized something was up when the El was empty and there wasn't a soul on the street."

Carter laughs out loud, "Yeah, that would have been your first clue." He notices the slightly embarrassed look on her face. "But I'm glad you're here. I bought all these party supplies and I was afraid there would be no one to share them with."

"I should probably head back if it really is going to get that bad," she says, reaching for her coat, which Carter is still holding.

Carter surprises himself when he practically rips the coat out of her hands. "No, please stay. You know how the local news loves to dramatize everything. I'm sure it won't be that bad. I'll drive you home later."

"I don't know; I hate for you to have to go out in this."

"Stay. They whole point of having a party on Christmas Eve was so that those of us without family in town wouldn't have to spend Christmas alone."

Abby contemplates this for a moment before nodding her head. "Okay, I'll stay."

Carter lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"This is so ridiculous. Are these people morons?"

Carter suppresses a laugh as he tries to appear offended. "Abby, please. This is a Christmas classic."

"I would hardly classify Home Alone 2 as a Christmas classic. And you have to admit, social services would be all over these people's asses for losing their child twice."

"You know, I think there was a Home Alone 3…"

Abby chokes on her drink as she unsuccessfully attempts to suppress her laugh. Carter shakes his head. They had been watching Christmas specials for a few hours now, and Abby had been irreverently commenting on the plotlines the entire time. He was enjoying her cheekiness almost as much as he was enjoying giving her a hard time about it.

"Would you rather watch Frosty? I think that's on channel 3."

Abby makes a mock look of disgust. "Sure, the story of a little girl who travels off in a train with a strange snowman she just met only to be stalked by the creepiest magician I ever saw."

Carter throws his hands up in the air jokingly. "Fine! Is there anything you do want to watch?"

"Well now that you mention it, I think they are showing a repeat of the Fear Factor Christmas special…"

Cater watches Abby as she dozes on the sofa next to him. He gave in and watched Fear Factor, despite the fact that Abby fell asleep half way through it. He didn't mind, however, he was just glad she decided to stay.

Carter found himself craving Abby's company a lot recently. They had hardly spoken for such a long time, except on strictly professional terms. During this time he kept up to date on her life through the hospital grapevine, and this is where he learned that Abby had been dating someone from the hospital. He told himself that it didn't bother him, but when he found himself thinking about it more than he should, he became concerned. So he went back to Africa to salvage his relationship with Kem.

When he arrived in Africa and saw Kem, it didn't take long for both of them to realize that it was over. They lived in two different worlds and had become two different people, although Carter knew deep down they had always been this way; the illusion had just been dropped. He had been upset at the finality of their break-up, however, he was not as devastated by it as he expected to be. Then one day around Thanksgiving he ran into Abby at Ike's. He was surprised to see that she was alone until she informed him that she too had recently become single. She asked him to sit down, and ever since they had been "coincidentally" running into each other in the lounge for an impromptu coffee, "accidentally" taking their lunch breaks at the same time and "inadvertently" working on traumas together.

Carter had to admit, he was enjoying the company.

Abby suddenly sits up. "Did I miss the ending?"

"Um, about an hour ago," Carter chuckles.

"Crap. The same thing happened last time I tried to watch it. What time is
it?"

"Almost 11:00."

Abby yawns as she says, "I should probably get going…"

Before she can finish her sentence, the lights flicker for a moment and then the house becomes dark. The only light is the glow from the candles on the table next to them. Carter stands up and looks out the window.

"Well, I think the weatherman was right for once. It looks like the ice knocked down one of the power lines."

Abby approaches the window. "Wow, the streets are covered. Has it been snowing this whole time?"

"I guess so. Looks like you'll be stuck here for awhile."

Abby stifles another yawn.

"You're welcome to stay in one of the guest rooms. Oh, except…"

"Except what?"

"Except that the furnace is electric and until the power comes back on our only heat will be from the fireplace."

"Here is fine. I just need to go to bed somewhere," Abby replies decisively.

"Alright then, the living room it is."

"I know they're in here somewhere," Carter grumbles as he searches by candlelight for the sleeping bags he is sure are in the closet. "Let me just check behind this.." Carter is cut off as the sound of a crash echoes through the room.

"Everything okay in there?" Abby peers into the closet.

"Yeah," Carter replies as he stares at the slew of papers and overturned box that surround him on the floor.

Abby kneels down and begins stacking the papers back into the box. "Are you sure about that?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

Carter doesn't answer as he joins her on the floor. They silently pile the papers into the box until Carter notices Abby staring at something.

"What's that?" he asks.

Abby turns around the strip of paper and he sees several pictures they had taken of themselves at Navy Pier when they first started dating. Carter had dragged Abby into a photo booth and the result was a row of pictures: some silly, some serious, and some that simply showed how blatantly in love they were. "I forgot all about these. I didn't know I still had them."

They sit quietly for a moment, watching their image flicker in and out of the light as a draft causes the flame of the candle to dance around.

Abby breaks the silence. "You know, it wasn't all bad, me and you."

"Most definitely not."

"And its funny," Abby continues, "that the more time passes, the less I can remember the bad parts. But the good parts seem to get clearer and clearer."

Carter nods. "I know what you mean." He looks up and catches Abby wiping her eye with the sleeve of her shirt. Her eyes glisten in the candlelight, but he decides to let it go without further comment.

"Hey, how about we forget the sleeping bags and just grab some blankets."

Abby slowly nods her head and they head downstairs to the warmth of the fire.

Carter awakens to the sound of the furnace kicking back on and the glare of the Christmas tree lights in his eyes. It takes his sleep-hazed mind a moment to process why he is laying on his living room floor, but when he looks to his right he remembers.

He sees Abby's face, reflecting the light shining from the tree. She had washed her face clean of the make-up she had applied for the party before they went to sleep, and he is awestruck at the vulnerability she displays in this completely natural and relaxed state. He watches, mesmerized, as the glow from the blinking Christmas lights illuminate her face: first red, then yellow, then blue, then green. Abby's face is something Carter has seen almost everyday for the past six years. He has admired her physical beauty, sought her smile for comfort, been the recipient of many an eye roll, experienced the anger of her glare, and felt her pain through her pursed lips.

But this time he simply sees Abby. It is as if he is looking at her with new eyes, as if it is the first time he has ever seen her. He catches a glimpse of his life without her in it, and he realizes he doesn't even know who he would be if he had never met her; their lives are that intertwined. The urge to touch her face is strong, not out of passion or lust (although if he were to be honest with himself he would realize that those feeling too are beginning to percolate deep within him), but out of a desire to know she is real. He is looking into his life from the outside, and for the first time he understands what a vital part of his life Abby is.

She begins to stir and he hears her murmur, "John…"

His heart skips a beat. "Abby?"

"You're hogging the covers."

He realizes she is dreaming when he looks down and sees that while the covers are being used disproportionably by one of them, he is most definitely not the perpetrator. Knowing that he is in her dreams makes his heart swell.

Still remaining very much asleep, Abby turns over and scoots her body against his, so that her back is pressed against his stomach. He tells himself it is cold and that it will take awhile for the furnace to warm up the house, and he abandons his original plan of waking Abby and showing her to the guest room.

He instead opts for Plan B: wrapping his arm around her and drifting back to sleep.

The sound of a metal spatula clanging against a pan awakens Abby. She sits up with a start and blinks sleepily as she takes in her surroundings. The fire has long since died, but the lights are on and it is warm. She stretches and then pads into the kitchen to find Carter making breakfast.

" What 'cha making?"

"French Toast," Carter replies as he turns around and smiles at her. "You hungry?"

"Mmmhmm. Smells good." Abby pauses. "Merry Christmas John."

Carter puts down the spatula and turns towards Abby. "Merry Christmas." He continues to look at Abby standing in the doorway in the oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants she borrowed from him; feet bare, eyes sleepy, hair a mess. She is beautiful.

And he knows.

"What?" Abby asks, although she already knows the answer, even if it is only subconsciously.

She knows it too.

Carter slowly shakes his head. "Nothing. Its just…" he walks over towards her, "you're standing under the mistletoe."

Abby looks at the mistletoe above her that Carter had hung for the party. She looks back at Carter as his lips slowly approach her own, and for that brief moment between when she knows she is about to be kissed and it actually happens she feels an excitement she hasn't felt since she was 5 years old, waiting for Santa Claus.

Their lips meet.

It is a gentle kiss, both eyes and mouths closed, but John lingers a bit too long and Abby leans in a bit too much for it to simply a kiss between friends. And when they part, their eyes slowly opening, seeing each other in both a familiar and brand new way, Carter realizes he has just received the Christmas gift that had been his wish for such a long time.

A new beginning.