Chapter Ten: Healing the Breach

After their discussion, Jerry seemed to forget the whole thing and never brought it up again, something for which Emily was deeply grateful. They saw little of each other for the rest of the season since Emily's schedule did not permit visits. Katie remained reluctant to go to Victoria, which resulted in Emily forgoing some of her chances to visit Jerry and Cooper in order to stay with her best friend. One night, as they were sitting in the main room reading over the weekly status report of bush pilots, Emily broached the subject for what seemed to her the millionth time. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me, Katie? I have a drop to make to Victoria and I'd appreciate it if you'd come along. What are you going to do anyway?"

"I'll keep busy," Katie replied noncommittally, her brown eyes fixed on the papers in front of her as she thumbed through the advance weather forecast.

"It's not healthy to stay cooped up in here all the time," Emily responded gently, setting aside the sheaf of papers she'd been browsing through. "And no, flying on missions doesn't count as 'getting out' either. You need a break, time to relax."

"Going to Victoria is not exactly what I'd define as 'relaxing', Em," Katie replied with some irritation.

Emily snorted. "And you'd rather go to a base where you don't know anyone? Even if you can't stand Jerry – and don't lie to me, I know you still like him," she added sternly. "Even if you didn't like Jerry, I think it's rude to ignore Andy, Rosie and Cooper after all they've done to make us feel at home there."

"I think they'll understand," Katie retorted.

Emily stared at her friend for a minute before lowering her eyes. "It hurts me, too, Kate."

Katie's brown eyes snapped to Emily's face, surprised by this confession. "What do you mean?"

"Think how many times in the last few months I've stayed here to be with you instead of going to visit Victoria – where my only real friends down here besides you happen to be– and yet, not once have you consented to come with me to do something I want to do. Victoria's not the same without you, Katie, even if you and Jerry are… at odds with each other."

Katie sighed. "Look, Em, I'm really sorry, okay? I just can't deal with it… it's too awkward."

"Tell me the truth, then," Emily challenged, "Do you still care about Jerry? Is that why you don't want to go back?"

Sighing resignedly, Katie said tremulously, "I should know better than to try to conceal anything from you. It's been almost two years, and yet I still go weak at the knees whenever he looks at me. My heart aches whenever I see him flirting with another girl – even you." Then, catching the indignant look in Emily's eyes, she added, "and don't fire some snappy comeback – you both flirt with each other… or at least appear to." Suddenly she cursed and said, "I'm a twenty-six-year-old woman acting like a lovesick fourteen-year-old! I should be mature enough to deal with this rationally!"

With great difficulty, Emily managed to contain her smile. "I don't know about mature… but I can tell you're trying to be rational. Personally, I think you're beating your head against a brick wall, here," she said, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice. "You can only fight your feelings for so long, Kate."

"You're not helping!" Katie growled, though she too, had a hint of a smile playing around her mouth.

Emily smirked and asked again, "So, will you come with me? If nothing else, we can spend some time teasing Cooper and I'll see if I can't humiliate Jerry for you."

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Katie asked quizzically. When Emily shook her head, she sighed. "Fine. I'll go. But do Jerry a favor and allow him to keep the little amount of dignity he has. I don't want to hurt him."

Grinning like the Mad Hatter, Emily replied, "What dignity? A man who dumps the prettiest girl in Antarctica because he's too daft to realize what he's got doesn't deserve any respect."

"Emily!" Katie cried in mock outrage, "Watch your tongue!" She wadded up an old weather report and aimed it at Emily's head, though it missed by a sizeable margin when the redhead flinched away.

In retaliation, Emily whipped off her fuzzy slippers and launched them consecutively at her friend, who caught one and dodged the other. A few minutes and a short tussle later, both girls looked a little the worse for wear, but were grinning broadly, the tense mood of the morning forgotten.

Emily knew Katie would never admit it, but her Native American friend really did enjoy being back at Victoria. Jerry had gone out of his way to be a little more gracious and gentlemanly towards both of them during their visit and he even refrained from his usual tradition of retelling his adventures out on the ice shelves. There was still a little tension there, but on the whole, Emily thought the whole evening had gone rather well. That night, after Rosie had fallen asleep, Emily was just dozing off when she heard Katie coming back from the bathroom. A deeper, masculine voice murmured something and, after a moment's consideration, she identified it as Jerry's.

"Sorry, Katie, I didn't see you there," he murmured.

"Oh no, don't worry about it, I didn't mean to get in your way," Katie's rushed reply came in a whisper barely audible to Emily. The door opened slightly as Katie pressed on it and Emily snapped her eyes shut, feigning sleep.

"Why haven't you come out very often?" Jerry asked, a measure of hurt evident in his voice. "You used to come out more often than Emily, but this is the first time I've seen you out here this season. And she's been coming at least once a month."

The door swung closed again as Katie stepped back out into the hall. "I…I…I've been busy. You know, other things to do that demanded my attention."

"Mmm hmm," Jerry replied skeptically. Emily could tell from the tone of his voice that he didn't believe her. Let's face it, she thought inwardly, Katie's a horrible liar. He can see right through her. But apparently Jerry decided not to call her bluff. Instead, he simply bade her goodnight and a click of a door announced his disappearance into the bathroom.

After that visit, Katie loosened up around Jerry and they began to joke and tease once more. However, Emily noticed a certain distancing on Jerry's part. There was something in his eyes that told her he was moving on, just as he had with her, and throwing up walls to safeguard his heart. There was nothing she could do about it, though, so she ignored it and treated both Jerry and Katie the same as she always had.

Author's Note: This chapter was a little tricky, because I realized halfway through that Jerry and Katie's attitudes towards each other weren't in line with the canon, so there's a little bit of a switch here, where Katie starts to realize that she still cares about Jerry, while Jerry starts to block it out. Let me know if it's a little rocky... I doubt it's the highest caliber chapter I've ever written.

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