A/N: A warning. This part veers from the F/F for a bit.

oOOOOo

Surrender

Kim stared at her bagel, her topping, her knife. Her hair hung in wet ringlets making wet tracks down the back of her bright pink shirt. The
coffee maker gurbled to a halt, and without looking she reached behind her back and flipped the switch off. She put her breakfast down and stared at it. She just wasn't hungry, which never happened. Even when she was sick with the worst case of the flu, or throwing back up what she ate and hour after she ate it, she was still hungry.

She turned and poured her coffee into a travel mug, lifting the mug to her nose, taking in the comforting scent. Twenty degrees. She'd woken up so early she'd had time to take a twenty minute shower, used up all the hot water in her forty gallon water heater. And still, if she left now, she'd be early to work.

She took a sip of the black coffee. Maybe she'd go into work early. She couldn't remember when Kerry was supposed to be on. The Chief of the ER worked such a weird schedule it was hard to keep track. Maybe if she went in early she'd manage to avoid the red head, at least
until the first psych consult in the ER. She could have passed on the duty to someone else, but, she loved working in the ER.

She, they could do it. They'd just be colleagues again, maybe one day, maybe they'd even be acquaintances.

She closed the top of her travel mug and sniffed the air. Sour milk. She brought her left hand up to her face and winced, she needed to
talk to her dry cleaners. "Maybe the blue shirt..."

oOOOOo

Kerry jerked awake as the El made a fast stop. She took one deep breath, and then another. She closed her eyes and she groaned. She'd gotten some sleep, but definitely not enough. Not to mention her leg ached like a bitch, and her car hadn't started at all.

"Hey Chief."

Kerry took a cleansing breath in and held it for a beat. "I thought you rode your bike Doctor Malucci."

Dave shrugged, "You look a little flushed."

Kerry turned and stared at Dave. "Silence is golden David."

He put his hands up defensively, "I can take a hint." The cars slid into the stop nearest to County and Dave sprang up, beating a path to
the door. Kerry bit off a groan and was the last one off the car. On the platform she stopped, letting the crush of people flow around her.
Finally she climbed down the steps and went towards the ER's ambulance bay doors.

As she got to the door she slammed into a solid object. She caught her balance and looked up into the beautiful blue eyes for a half a second too long before she took a step back. "I'm sorry Kim."

Kim shook her head and gestured that Kerry should go first. "Not a problem Ker-ry." Kim followed Kerry into the ER, idly wondering
whether Kerry would say something about her slip up, almost calling her Ker. The red headed doctor didn't, and the blonde psychiatrist
peeled off towards the elevators without another word.

As Kerry passed by the admit desk Dave held up a chart. "Hard at work Chief..."

Kerry shook her head, though as the door to the Doctor's lounge closed a slight smile came to her face.

When she came back out of the lounge, only Randi was at the desk. "Did someone plant a tracking device on me Randi?"

Randi spoke with a straight face, "They're all just working hard." Kerry raised an eyebrow, "Or hardly working."

Kerry caught sight of Mark. He wore his usual green scrubs, with the addition of a blue untied surgical cap to cover his still bare head.
"Hey Mark..."

They met at the desk. Mark moving to the board. "Morning Kerry."

"How's it goin'?"

Mark bent to throw away his gloves, "Uh, well, a snow blower blew a rock into a guy's larynx, had to trach him."

Kerry moved to join Mark by the board, "No, I mean with you. You know, first day back."

"So far so good."

"Good." Kerry put away a chart.

"I'll let you know at the end of my four hours."

Kerry glanced up at the board and then moved for a closer look. "Gettin' a little backed up?"

"Three patients waiting for a surgical consult."

"Who's on the service?"

Mark picked up a chart from the rack, "Peter. But, uh, she's stuck in a press conference."

Kerry went back to the charts, "Who?"

"Peter, she's been in for an hour."

Kerry glanced over her shoulder, "Who's she?"

"What?"

Kerry looked straight on at Mark, confused as hell. "Wait, I mean, who's giving the press conference?"

"Well, I don't know who it's for," Mark started to walk away, "but I heard Peter's in it."

Kerry picked up her cardboard coffee cup as Luka called her from the other side of the ER. She was tired, maybe it was her, but that
conversation hadn't made any sense at all. "Kerry..."

"Yep."

oOOOOo

Kim saw a shock of red hair. They hadn't seen each other since they bumped in the doorway on the way in. She stopped and moved to one side, mostly hidden by the wall. Elizabeth and Kerry were not having a happy conversation. Kim frowned as she listened. Kerry didn't look well, there were circles under her eyes as if she hadn't gotten any sleep, Kim had assumed that she'd simply gone home after their little talk at Doc Magoos.

"Have you noticed that he's mixing his pronouns?"

Elizabeth stepped into the elevator, holding the door open. "Mixing, how?"

"Well, like saying she when he means he."

"Uh." She shook her head, "Nothing that I've noticed. Has he said anything to you about it?"

Kerry tilted her head to one side, "I don't think he realizes."

Kerry could practically see all the thoughts chasing each other through Elizabeth's brain. "Well, maybe you misheard." She backed into
the elevator a bit, trying to end the conversation.

Kerry thought for a blink of an eye before responding. She could follow Elizabeth into the elevator, push the issue, or she could let
it go for the moment. "Yeah." It was the easy way out. The path of least resistance, but she was sick of tension.

Elizabeth let the door close and Kerry turned around. She somehow managed to stop her groan from being audible, but only barely. "Kim."

Kim nodded as she stood in front of the shorter woman. "Kerry."

They both were quiet for a moment before Kerry spoke, "So, he's not psychotic?"

Kim shook her head, "Ah, no, sociopath maybe, but no, I can't hold him. We'll leave it up to the police."

Kerry nodded shortly again, "Thanks."

Kim tilted her head to one side, the hint of a smile came to her lips unbidden, "Anytime."

Kerry watched her walk down the hallway, and nearly jumped when Carter spoke, "Doctor Weaver. You wanted to see me before my shift?"

She took a deep breath, thrust out of her own insane little world into the real one once again. "Right."

oOOOOo

The Doctor's lounge on the psych floor rang with laughter as Kim entered. She was mentally exhausted. She'd gotten called down twice
more to the ER. Though she hadn't bumped into Kerry again, her nerves were frayed. She'd never had that reaction to a woman before. Hell, Kate had hated her for most of Junior year after they'd broken up and it hadn't phased the blonde.

"It must have been Randi, right. She managed to get Doctor Weaver the chart?"

"No, no... just luck of the draw. And Chuny said that she didn't even have a surprised blink when she inspected it."

"Oh, really?" Eyebrows were raised all around the room.

They turned to Kim, who was pointedly trying to avoid the conversation since she was pretty sure that she knew which hard situation they were referring to, and who it involved. She'd already heard the ER staff snickering about the guy on coke with the wood that wouldn't go down. "Kim. You're down there a lot. Is Doctor Weaver gay?"

Kim didn't even blink or pause before she responded. "She was married actually. No, she's straight."

One of the nurses sighed, "That's too bad. I bet she's... intense at all the right times... if ya know what I mean."

Kim headed for the door as the other people in the room laughed. "See you tomorrow."

A chorus of 'bye Kim's followed her out the door.

oOOOOo

Kerry slid down the wall by her door. She was cold, tired. She felt her face getting wet as well. She leaned her head back against the
yellow bricks and closed her eyes. First Mark, then Elizabeth, Carter, Kim, Benton, topped off by her total ineptitude in causing so many
people to get hurt because she always had to do what was set forth in the rules. She took a few long breaths before she slowly stood and
opened her door. She winced as a voice spoke from behind her.

"Why'd you pull me off the woman?"

Kerry held the door open. "I can't do this now David. I..."

Dave crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not leaving your doorstep until you answer my damn question."

Kerry was silent for a half a minute before she shook her head and gestured. "Inside Doctor Malucci, it's cold out."

He somehow managed to wait until Kerry had her coat off before he spoke again. "I'm good, not perfect, I miss stuff, I have more to
learn, I get that. You've hammered that into my head. But... why did you pull me off the dying woman today?"

Kerry shook her head slowly as she stared at Dave. "It... it wasn't you David."

"I'm not an idiot. I may act that way."

Kerry sighed, "Look Doctor Malucci. I may be a bitch. I may be an ice queen, but I'm also the Chief of the ER, it's my ER. I don't screw
with people there. You're right, you have a lot to learn, that's why you're a resident, and not a god. It was not because of your skill.
You'll have to take my word for that, but it's true."

Dave stared right back at Kerry. It was a battle of wills, and somewhere in him Dave knew he would lose, but that didn't stop him.
That's what was intriguing about the resident to Kerry. There was something deeper about him that no one ever got near.

She turned and nearly jumped when Dave's hand came down on her shoulder. Her crutch clattered to the ground and she brought her arms up to clutch at Dave's arms. "David..."

He didn't answer, but leaned down and captured her lips with his own. She could feel him pause a moment, to see if she would respond or say no. She kissed him back and he pressed his body to hers, holding her up as if she weighed less than a feather. He lifted her up without letting her lips go and they moved through the house. His coat wound up in the kitchen. Her sweater just outside her bedroom door.

Neither was cold for long.