Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; never have, never will do. Feel free to sue if you wish, although I have nothing worth taking except a tin of rice pudding... but you must supply your own can opener.

Monday

Sitting at the small makeshift picnic benches in the 'staff' mess hall, Kerry moved her breakfast around the plate with her spoon. Nothing said a hearty breakfast like oatmeal... if that in fact is what it was. Instead she lowered her spoon and picked up her banana, peeling it swiftly and devouring it just as fast. When she had been working in the ER, eating was more of a luxury than a basic human right and the same was true of here. You ate on the go and half the time you never realised you'd missed a meal until you were hooked up to an IV beside the patients.

Dropping the peel onto her plate, Kerry leant back in her chair, glancing around at the few doctors meandering around the room. She had made her introductions the first day of arriving but many of them besides Gillian rarely spoke to her. She had kept very much to herself these past few weeks and was intrigued to see who would arrive next in camp.

Standing with her plate in hand, Kerry looked up at the voices coming through the door. She could see Gillian looking to a figure to her right, the new doctor Kerry imagined.

"Daniel will show you to where we all sleep, it's not the greatest but it's home for now." Gillian explained to the person, before turning to look at Kerry. "Good morning."

"Morning," Kerry replied, walking over to the bin and scraping her waste in the oil drum. "I thought you'd be back a little later on."

"No, we were very lucky with our route, no problems at all." Gillian smiled broadly at Kerry, pulling up a seat at the table. "New doctor seems nice."

Lowering herself back onto her chair, Kerry laid her crutch beside her. One of the other doctors whose name she never remembered was taking the morning rounds, so she had most of the morning free. She was to introduce the new doctor to the camp and show them the protocols they worked to here. It was scut work but anything for a break from the sweltering heat of the clinic was welcome.

"So who is he, anybody I know?" Kerry asked, unscrewing the cap on her water bottle and taking a large swig.

"Well it's a she and yes, they say you have met before." Gillian replied, a small twinkle to her eye.

"Hey Gillian, I set up all of my things, ready for orientation!" A tall blonde woman entered the mess hall, her voice vaguely familiar to Kerry's ears. She finished taking her drink, feeling a spot of water begin to dribble down her chin. When her eyes met the woman before her, she was lucky to keep the liquid in her mouth. "Hi Kerry." The woman offered as Kerry dumbly wiped the moisture away with the back of her hand.

"Kim..."

...

Kim Legaspi hadn't changed at all. Kerry took in the woman sitting in front of her as if stuck in a dream. Or perhaps a nightmare as they had last left it. She had her blonde curls pulled back into a loose ponytail, her light blue eyes searching her surroundings, her gaze momentarily locking on to Kerry's.

"So..." Kim began, folding her arms across her chest. The heat had already started getting to her, with small sweat droplets hanging onto the bottom of her tank top and cotton shirt she wore over it. "It's certainly warm out here." Great Legaspi, talk about the weather, she chided herself internally, smiling at Kerry.

"Most of the time, sometimes the showers break it for a while but they can be very few and far between." Kerry replied, trying not to stare too much at Kim. She never thought she would ever see this woman again after everything that had happened. They had taken a break, or more like a break up. Kerry had taken a trip to clear her head whilst Kim had moved out of Chicago with no warning. Long ago it had hurt a lot but Kerry thought about the picture sitting beneath her pillow and continued the conversation. "My parents loved it here, me being the pale redhead, not so much." She gave a short laugh which Kim quickly joined in also.

In that moment as Kim laughed along with Kerry she realised just how little she knew about Kerry's past and childhood. She had known that Kerry was adopted by her parents and that she had spent some time here but more than that was a blur. It had been a whirlwind romance for both of them and it never occurred to Kim that although they had been close, they had never been close enough.

"Anyway," Kerry broke into Kim's thoughts, standing up slowly from the table, balancing with her crutch. She had been sitting down to long and her hip had begun to stiffen up slightly, nothing a small walk wouldn't handle. "I can show you the clinic if you like, introduce you to some patients."

"Kerry, can we just talk for a minute." Kim looked up at Kerry, her eyes questioning. Kerry remembered the same look from when they had gone out for dinner on thanksgiving, when Kim had tested the waters on her 'second date theory'.

"Erm, sure, I guess. We've got time." Kerry began to mumble her words, not quite sure what to make of what Kim wanted to discuss. She lowered herself again and folded her hands on the table; her eyes open to Kim's.

Kim cleared her throat before she began. "I just thought, that with everything that has happened between us and it has been five years now, that perhaps we can leave all of that behind us, you know. Start a fresh?"

Looking down at her hands, Kerry began to fiddle with the gold band that she wore around her left ring finger. She spun it around slowly, composing her thoughts before she asked, "How fresh?"

"Perhaps friends? Get to know each other; we kind of missed out on the friendship part the last time." Kim continued on, taking a mental note of the ring and the questions she had to ask later on.

"Sure," Kerry replied, giving her full attention to Kim. "Friends. So, on that note, what brings you to the Congo?"

Kim laughed to herself, Kerry had always been so inquisitive. "Well it's not often that Psychiatrists can get out here. Sure, there is a need for doctors but what about the psychological damage these wars and illnesses are causing to families and children? It seemed as good a time as any to offer my services. What about you?"

Sitting back, Kerry paused for a moment, thinking as to why she had volunteered to come out here. Luka and John's tales had certainly reminded her of not only the conflict but also the beautiful continent she had grown up on, but two years on, she was still somewhat in grieving for Sandy. Not that she didn't love her son, he was the most important thing in her life but part of her knew she needed this break to reassess everything that had happened to her family. Was it such a coincidence that Kim had arrived now? Instead she settled on, "Always wanted to come back after my childhood." She added a small smile brightening up her face.

"Right, it must have been lovely." Kim smiled back, not pushing the subject any further. Brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, her eyes twinkled as she gazed at Kerry for a long moment, neither one wanting to be the first to tear their eyes away. "I suppose I had better see the clinic."

Kerry looked down at her crutch, hurrying to stand up. She had felt uncomfortable gazing at her ex-girlfriend but felt drawn to her. The guilt began to creep in and she kept her eyes down, away from Kim's. She threaded her arm deftly into the crutch and set off leading the way silently out of the door.

Noticing Kerry's behaviour, Kim just followed the petite woman out of the mess hall and into the morning sunshine. She could feel the discomfort radiating from Kerry and kept a few steps back so as not to crowd her. We've got a lot of work to do here Legaspi, she thought to herself as she followed behind Kerry and entered the clinic.

A/N – So I'm pretty much just going with the flow on this one, again, anything then please review and let me know what you all are thinking. It's much appreciated...