The slap of the ER doors closing and the clatter of gurney signaled the arrival of the newest casualty to St. Luke's Hospital in Washington DC. Medical personnel rushed around like ants, clearing the way and getting a triage area prepared. With St. Luke's being a teaching hospital, med students scurried in mass confusion, getting lost in the labyrinth of hallways and some never to be seen again. One of the residents that came rushing towards the casualty was a real pain in the ass, gifted with what it took to be a good surgeon but lacking in maturity. At least that is what the report from Dr. Waylon Porter said. Then again, Dr. Porter was a straight and narrow type of person, nurses swore she had a broomstick up her ass and too much starch in her green hospital scrubs. They often stole her long white lab coat and took bets on how long the starch would keep it standing on its own.

With Dr. Porter and her 'favorite' Resident Dr. Jack pushing and shoving each other to get into the triage area, they stopped when a burly nurse grabbed Dr. Porter by her arm and yanked her into the room.

"What am I going to do with you two? I swear it's like kindergarten when you're both here." Golden eyes drilled into emerald green. "I'd turn you both over my knee if it wouldn't get me in trouble."

Green eyes narrowed, the corner of an upper lip lifted in a snarl. "You're disgusting nurse Halton, now get your paws off me and order a chest x-ray and full CT scan." Nurse Halton threw her hands in the air and bowed at her waist.

"How about a proctologist?" She said over her shoulder on her way to the nurse's desk. Either Dr. Porter didn't hear her or she was ignoring the jab.

"OK people what have we got here?"

One of the ER nurses rattled off the information that the paramedics had passed along. "Male late 20's, head on collision, trapped for 25 minutes, n-thorax, BP 71 over 60, pulse 80." Porter cut the mans' shirt completely off and tossed it to the floor.

"Get a crash cart ready and I need a chest tube, CBC, blood gas and call surgery." She took a scalpel and made a one-inch incision between his ribs for the chest tube. "Hang a bag of O pos, saline and get ready to bag him." Jack handed her sponges and the chest tube, no matter what Porter said about the resident, she seemed to know what she needed before she said anything. Sliding the chest tube in, she watched the machines and grinned behind her mask when his vitals climbed. "OK people, get him upstairs and where's the other accident victim?" She looked between all the nurses and waited; Jack gave her a big smirk and answered.

"I think the telephone pole is OK, but if you want, I can run out there and put a big band aide on it." Her greenish grey eyes twinkled when Porter huffed and left the triage room. Nurse Halton slapped Jack in her head and pushed her out of the way.

"Why do you have to push her buttons?"

"Because I'm immature and it's fun."

"Well, have some fun and clean this place up and no loud music!" She pulled her surgical hat off her long dark hair and tossed it at Jack. "I'm going on break; page me if we have anything."

"What you and your doctor do upstairs is not a break." Halton winked and left her to clean up the room. She used the phone to call house keeping and then put the ear pieces in for her MP3 player, Halton never said she couldn't listen to tunes that way. A few minutes later, a housekeeping cart came through the door pushed by a tall black woman with twinkling brown eyes. She slapped hands with Jack, and then turned her own MP3 player on, as they cleaned the room, they danced and sang the blues.

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Porter ran her fingers through her short blonde hair and down across her tired face, it had been a long ten hours and she had two more to go before she could go home and sleep. Finding peace and quiet in a hospital was near impossible unless you went outside and stood in the alley. That was one place she was not going. With the temperatures in the 20's, she knew the alley would be filled with bums huddled around burning barrels trying to stay warm. She had them removed but by the next night, they were back. It was worse when they came into the hospital to be treated or to get out of the cold by faking an injury or illness. Leaving the doctors lounge, she went down the hallway towards the ER room to see how things were shaping up for her turnover to the next crew. She wasn't ready for the total chaos that came rushing through the ER doors.

"Doc we have an over turned bus, 60 patients in route, most serious are coming first. Jack and Halton are on site doing triage."

Porter spun and looked at the paramedic. "How the Hell did they get out there?"

"Doc, the bus is right outside the front doors." The paramedic rushed the gurney past her; Porter looked out the glass doors and saw the huge silver bus lying on its side. Nurses, residents, firefighters and police officers worked on getting the injured from the wreck. Pushing through the door, she scanned the area for Jack. What she saw made her blood boil; she jogged across the street and yelled.

"Jack get your ass down from up there, you're a doctor not a firefighter." Jack turned and grinned down at her.

"I used to be a volunteer until you gave me shitty hours." She hoisted an old woman through the window and handed her off to a waiting police officer. "I'm done guys; boss lady just gave me a direct order." She climbed down and stuck her tongue out at a pissed off five-foot-four Porter. "I'll start taking care of the minor injuries and leave the glory jobs for you." Porter took a deep breath and dropped her head, she knew that she was being overly rough with Jack, but what she saw in the younger woman was herself when she was a young resident. Jack had promise and she wanted to steer her in the right direction. At one time, she was full of life and carefree, then came the responsibilities of being the chief resident. She would love to kick back, blast music in the ER and dance around like a teenager. However, that wasn't in the picture any longer, she had to maintain control and keep the riff-raff out of the ER. She saw the bums sneaking through the door during the confusion. She let it slide, for now; she had patients to attend.

With her scrubs covered in blood, hair wet with sweat and her feet feeling like they were in buckets of cement, Porter shuffled out to the ER. Her attention was immediately caught when singing came to her ears from the large waiting room beyond the ER. A group of bums stood singing in front of a captive audience of senior citizens that had come from the bus wreck. She was amazed at how they sang in harmony and then one voice rang out above them. She leaned up against the wall and watched with interest as a tall woman with long black wild looking hair, baggy clothes and the voice of an angel captured everyone's attention including hers.



Maybe you want to give me kisses sweet
But only for one night with no repeat
Maybe you'd go away and never call
And a taste of honey is worse than none at all

Chorus:
Oh little girl, in that case I don't want no part
That would only break my heart
Oh, but if you feel like loving me
If you got the notion
I second that emotion
Said, if you feel like giving me
A lifetime of devotion
I second that emotion

When the bums picked up the chorus, the tall dark woman moved towards the doorway and Porter; she stepped in front of her, ran a finger down her cheek and sunk to her knees.

Maybe you think that love would tie you down
You ain't got the time to hang around
Maybe you think that love was made for fools
So it makes you wise to break the rules

The bums joined in with the chorus and danced closer to their audience. The dark woman ran her hands up Porter's legs and stopped to rest on her hips.
Oh little girl, in that case I don't want no part
That would only break my heart
Oh, but if you feel like loving me
If you got the notion
I second that emotion
Said, if you feel like giving me
A lifetime of devotion
I second that emotion

Maybe you want to give me kisses sweet
But only for one night with no repeat
Maybe you'd go away and never call
And a taste of honey is worse than none at all
Maybe you think that love would tie you down
You ain't got the time to hang around
Maybe you think that love was made for fools
So it makes you wise to break the rules
Well, if you feel like giving me
A lifetime of devotion.

They finished their song with pale blue eyes smiling up into green; the dark woman rose to her feet, tipped her head to the side and winked before starting into another song. Porter let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding, her heart raced as she watched the tall woman go back over to the bums and sing to the senior citizens. She couldn't believe that she had let a strange woman touch her, worse, get away with it. Turning back towards the ER, she called security to have them removed from the waiting room and then grinned when she thought of a pay back for the touchy feely woman. ER nurse Halton and her partner Dr. Halton from pediatrics stepped behind her with raised eyebrows.

"Playing Dr. Weaver again I see, who pissed you off this time?" Porter spun around with flames dancing in her green eyes, she hated when they referred to her as Dr. Weaver from the series ER.

"There's singing bums in the waiting room and one of them touched me! So don't go calling me Dr. Weaver again Hulk Halton." She jabbed the nurse in her chest. "And you Kat, I know all about your little hidey hole upstairs," She looked at the Doctors appearance with a raised eyebrow. "Your scrub shirts on backwards."

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The tall dark woman grabbed her hip and pulled her pager off her belt; she looked at the screen and groaned. Waving at her friends, she headed towards the nearest phone and made her call.

"Yessum?" She listened for a second, shook her head and headed into the ER. "Someone called for a Psych consult?" She looked between Porter and the Halton's with raised dark brows. Tara grinned at her partner Kat and snorted.

"That would be you Dr. Porter, let me introduce you to one of your bums. This is Dr. Hudson 'The Dude' Halgenberg, our hospital psychiatrist."

Porter raised a hand up in front of her and shook her head. "You're not our psychiatrist; he's a short bald guy with Mr. Magoo glasses."

"That was me before I went on Jenny Jones for the 'Are you a geek make-over." She grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "So who's the nut, I need to see?" The Halton's busted up laughing when Porter mumbled and walked away, Kat clapped Hudson on her shoulder and looked up into her pale blue eyes.

"Dude, I think she wanted you to have the head shrinking. You riled her when you touched her."

"Damn and I thought it was my singing."

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Porter closed her locker and took the back way out of the hospital; she didn't want to have a run in with her friends or the tall psychiatrist after making an ass of herself. "How was I supposed to know who she was, she dresses like a bum!" She sat down at the bus stop and waited for the one that would take her to her small apartment a few blocks away. Her place wasn't much but it had been her home since she had been in medical school. It fit her hermit style life away from work, it was semi quiet, warm and cozy, and something badly needed after twelve hours of noise in the ER. Today was a perfect example of ER Hell and a night to soak in the tub with a glass of Blackberry Merlot. She looked up from where she had been staring at her feet to see her bus approaching, she stood up and stepped into her big silver chariot for her ride home.

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Dude stopped behind the bus and noticed a small blonde stand up and then get on, she saw one high top basketball shoe that triggered her mind as to who it was getting on the bus. She remembered Porter walking away and was amazed that they made Pony shoes that small. She still chuckled over the fact that the small doctor had called for a psych consult on her. Pressing the gas pedal down, she followed in her Silver Dodge Viper until the bus turned down its route. Going to her apartment was not the most thrilling thing in the world for her, the place was a dump but it was home for now. She had moved from her former place because of rats the size of cocker spaniels into a place with roaches the same size. She was thankful it was only a temporary situation until her building was completed. She had bought a small building a few blocks from the hospital for a song, the lower part would be her office with the upper floor her living quarters. The construction crew told her that it would be ready in a month; she didn't think she could hold out that long where she was. She pulled her car into her parking spot; hit the alarm on and walked up to her door. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door to her lower apartment.

"Damn nasty ass bugs; go in someone else's apartment!" She jumped and tried to smash as many of them as she could before they disappeared between cracks. She sniffed the air and could still smell the floral scent of the bug bomb she had set off before going to work. "That stuff probably is like steroids for you guys, by morning you'll be able to toss me out the door and take over the city!" She grabbed a garbage bag and went into the small bathroom for a shower. After stripping, she placed her clothes in the bag and tied it closed. She did not want to take any chances on bugs in her clothes or shoes. When she was finished, she ran to the hammock she had hanging in the small living room and crawled into it. "Can't crawl on me up here ya rotten bugs." If she was asked one thing that creeped her out, it would be bugs. The rats were kind of cute but they kept getting into her food and eating more than their share. She swung slowly back and forth in her hammock and with in minutes, she was sound asleep.

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Porter slipped down into the hot water scented with lavender oil and sighed deeply; she lifted the glass of sweet wine to her lips and took a small sip before closing her eyes. What came to her was a pair of pale blue eyes set off by perfect dark brows. She knew what she had done that night was mean but she had been paid back three fold. "How am I going to face everyone tomorrow?" She held her breath and slipped beneath the water hoping that an answer would come to her before she drowned. When she came up sputtering water, all she could do was groan and slap the water. Her deaf neighbors had turned their stereo up full blast, so that her walls were vibrating with the bass. She just couldn't figure out why they had to listen to their music so loud, the words so distorted that no one knew what they were singing about. "TURN THAT SHIT DOWN!" She pounded on the connecting wall with her palm knowing that it did no good. She knew that with the noise, she wouldn't be able to relax. Getting out of the tub, she pulled her robe on and went into her small bedroom. Falling across her full size bed, she pulled her MP3 from her pillow and put the earpieces in. The soft music soothing her ragged nerves and bringing back memories from the waiting room. "You do have a beautiful voice Dr. Halgenberg, to bad you're a jerk." She fell asleep with Barry White singing to her.

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Porter walked past the alley and stopped, standing before a burning barrel was Hudson with her friends from the night before along with Jack and her friend Lashawna from house keeping. It looked like the Supremes and the Temptations joining forces. She leaned against the wall and listened to the odd group of singers.

I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day...
When its cold outside, I've got the month of May.
I'd guess you'd say,
What can make me feel this way?
My girl,
My girl,
My girl,
Talking bout my girl.
My girl!
I've got so much honey the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.
Well I'd guess you'd say,
What can make me feel this way?
My girl,
My girl,
My girl,
Talking bout my girl.
My girl!
I don't need nobody,
Oh just my baby.
I've got all the riches baby,
One man can claim.
I'd guess you'd say,
What can make me feel this way?
My girl,
My girl,
My girl,
Talking bout my girl.
My girl!

She smiled when they started to dance and do spins like the Temptations, she had to admit, they were very good. What made her heart still was a pair of blue eyes looking at her. She couldn't believe when Hudson winked at her, was she flirting or what? She glanced down at her watch and then pointed to Jack. She chuckled at the rolling of greenish grey eyes and walked away whistling the song that would be stuck in her head for the rest of the day.

"What are you doing Dude, I saw you wink at Waylon?" Jack asked as she stepped up beside the much taller woman.

"Waylon is it," She looked down at Jack and Lashawna. "Just messing with her head a little, ya know the head shrinking thing."

Lashawna shook her head and groaned. "Not a good idea unless ya can get her to loosen up a bit, I think she drinks starch every morning."

Jack whispered. "Ya know she's straighter than a ruler and she hates me."

"Who doesn't hate you Jack?" Hudson asked and then hugged her smaller friend. "Just kidding, you know we all love you. Now let's get to work before she sends the goon squad after us."

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The ER was jam-packed with flu patients, all personnel wore masks to keep from getting germs. Even though they had all had the flu shot none of them wanted to take any chances on catching it. Jack covered her eyes when one of the patients lost the contents of his stomach right at her feet. She waved to an over worked Lashawna and took the mop from her hand. "Next time use the bed pan I gave you." The man looked up at her and shrugged.

"I used it to piss in, it is a bed pan." She rolled her eyes, handed the mop back to a snickering Lashawna and ran through the ER screaming and waving her arms over her head. She ran past a startled Waylon and into the doctors lounge, Tara shook her head and handed Waylon a chart.

"She'll be back in a few minutes; she just needs to...exercise."

Waylon raised an eyebrow and looked towards the closed door of the lounge. "Exercise, why in the world would she need to do that?"

"Go look through the window and get some entertainment, she's pretty funny." Tara took a stack of files with her down the hallway, peeked in through the window and busted out laughing. Waylon's curiosity was piqued, she went to the window and peeked in. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped at what Jack was doing, the resident was jumping up and down and cussing up a storm. Every other word had something to do with castrating the male population but with different garden tools. Waylon often thought of doing the same thing but power tools were more to her liking. One hobby she enjoyed was building things, pounding nails into wood was a great stress releaser. She also played basketball at the local Y after a hard day at work; it was easy to get in a pick-up game when a bunch of testosterone ripe guys were playing. They always thought they could get away with free feels.

@@@@@@@

Jack dropped into a chair and gasped for air, she had a funny feeling that she was being watched. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Waylon with a raised brow looking through the window. Knowing that she was in deep trouble, she went to the door and slipped out with her head down. "I'm on my way..."

"Jack, has anyone asked where these people have been, you know like a restaurant, party or anything?"

Jack shook her head and wondered why Waylon was asking such a question. "It's the flu, maybe they got it from their kids."

"Nope, they have food poisoning, see if they went to the same restaurant and if so, then call the place." After Jack went on her mission, Waylon heard her stomach growl and went into the lounge to grab her lunch. She grabbed the Long Johns Silver sampler box from the refrigerator and sat down at the table to eat the chicken planks from her meal.

@@@@@@@@

Jack went to each person and wrote down where they had eaten, so far, it was places that served chicken and fish. Now she would have to call the places and find out their distributor, she felt like an investigator of sorts. An hour later, she found the information she needed and went to inform Waylon. She found her treating a little boy who had green beans lodged up both nostrils.

"Doc, I have the info you wanted, I called the health department and their taking care of the rest." She handed Waylon her notes and watched the green pallor creep up her face. "What's wrong doc, you don't look so good?"

"I ahhh...had chicken from..." She ran from the room leaving a snickering Jack and the little boy with green beans still up his nose.

"That answers that question, now for you jolly green giant, let's see about taking care of your veggie problem."

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Waylon dodged the flying bedpan, dropped down and scurried over to the nurse's station where Tara was hiding. Both women flinched at the clatter of a tray hitting the tile floor and the ungodly roar that came with it. The police had brought in a homeless man an hour ago after finding him unconscious in the police impounds lot. At first they thought that he was just sleeping off a drunk, until he woke up and started screaming about in- coming rounds and enemy lines. With everyone under cover or running to a safe place, they waited for security and Hudson for a psych consult. Waylon peeked up over the desk, her eyes grew in size when she saw Hudson come running out of the elevator with a bedpan on her head.

"What is she doing?" She asked Tara.

"I have no idea but what ever it is I hope it works."

@@@@@@@

Hudson ran and slid across the floor on her knees stopping beside the man to hand him another bedpan. "Put this on, they're starting to drop mortars in sector three." She looked around and ducked her head down quickly. "What's the situation here?"

The mans bloodshot eyes wandered to hers, he grabbed the front of her shirt and yanked her closer. "Who are you and how did you get past them?"

"Sgt. Hudson, 31st airborne, we just dropped in over the LZ. We have to get out of here the enemy is closing in!" She pulled away from him and crept towards the end of the tipped over table they were using for cover. "Come on Corporal before it's too late, run for the trees, I'll cover you!" She waved him forward and when he came up beside her, she jabbed him with a syringe of tranquilizer. He spun to look at her with murderous eyes.

"You're one of them!" He screamed at the top of his lungs and then fell over.

"Gods Joe but your memory is short." She stood up and waved the security guards over. "Try strapping him down this time guys, you know how he gets." She watched the guards drag him away and saw Waylon and Tara come out of hiding. "Hey guys, how's it going?" She winked and walked off towards the elevator; Tara clapped Waylon on the shoulder and chuckled.

"Takes one to know one, what'd ya say to a cup of coffee?"

"You throw in a dose of Pepto and I'm in."

"Stomach still bothering you?"

"I think I lost that organ the last time I was praying to the Goddess."

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Hudson signed off on Joe's chart, handed it to one of the nurses and left to get a cup of coffee. She felt her energy starting to wane and knew that the sludge in the doctor's lounge could energize Los Angles. It had been busier than normal in the hospital, she chalked it up to being a week away from pension checks and the heavy rain that had started early in the morning. Rubbing her temples, she then rolled her head on her shoulders to loosen tight muscles. Just as she cleared the elevator doors, a small body charged past her and hit the bathroom door so hard that it shook the wall. The sound of retching came from inside and then a loud thud. Pushing the door open, she bent over and looked under the stalls.

"Waylon are you alright...Waylon?" She pushed open the stall door and squatted next to the pale little doctor. "This is not a good place for a nap Waylon." She scooped her up in her arms and carried her from the bathroom, on her way to an examine room, she saw Tara. "Can you get me an IV set-up, a bag of glucose and 2.5mg of Marinol?"

"I knew I should have checked on her, put her in there and I'll be back in a minute."

Hudson laid her down gently and removed her lab coat, throwing it over a chair; she then unbuttoned the first buttons of her shirt. Using Waylon's stethoscope, she checked her heartbeat and lungs. "And why didn't you take something, it's not good to have the big doc on board puking like her patients." She pulled a cold pack from a cabinet and placed it on Waylon's forehead.

"Here's the stuff you wanted, you want me to run the line?"

Hudson looked up, shook her head and grinned. "Nah, I need the practice, sticking chickens with a cooking thermometer just isn't the same."

"Dude, are you allowed to do IV's and stuff?"

"Sure, I did my time as a resident too, ya know. I just decided early that playing with whack jobs was more fun than moping up guts and stuff." Tara watched as she expertly slid the IV shunt in, taped it and then hooked up the glucose drip. "How long has she been up chucking?" She pinched the skin on Waylon's forearm and timed how long it took to go back to normal shape.

"I'm not sure when it started, I've known for an hour. Do you want to run a saline drip too?"

She checked Waylon's eyes and the color of her fingernails before nodding her head. "Yeah, she's as dry as the Mojave; can Jack cover for her until she's in better shape?"

"Yeah and I'll call my baby down to help out, she gets tired of being head of the diaper brigade."

Hudson pulled a chair up beside the bed, rolled Waylon onto her side, propped her with a pillow and injected the Marinol into her left cheek; she then adjusted the glucose drip and got comfortable for the wait. She didn't want to leave her unattended in case she became sick again. Twenty minutes later green eyes fluttered open and she looked around in confusion.

"Hey there Squirt, feeling better," Hudson asked and leaned towards Waylon. "Any nausea or anything?"

"What are you doing here?" She asked with a dry voice.

"Ohh just playing ER doctor and rescuing stubborn demi-gods from their egos. Ya know there are better places to sleep then on the bathroom floor." She checked Waylon's pulse and grinned when she pulled her hand away.

"I have work to do, so you can go back to your rubber room." She went to pull the IV out and found her hand pulled away.

"Not yet you don't, you still have two bags to pour in to you so relax and take a break."

"Better listen to her Doc," Jack said from the doorway. "We got everything under control, all the puker's are gone and the place is squeaky clean."

"I have paperwork to do and patients to check on." She went to sit up again.

"Not, Kat took care of that stuff and I threw out your lunch, how can you eat that greasy stuff?" She stuck her finger in her mouth and gagged. "Veggies baby, veggies!" She tossed a bag of baby carrots at her and winked as she skipped off down the hallway. Waylon groaned and dropped her head back into the pillow; she turned her head to see Hudson grinning at her.

"Are you going to sit there the entire time, bedpan head?"

"Of course, what kinda doc would I be if I didn't look out for my patient?" Waylon went up onto her elbows and narrowed her eyes.

"You're a head shrinker and I'm not nuts so that means I'm not your patient."

Hudson blew on her nails and polished them on her pant leg. "I beg to differ, I ran your IV, administered Marinol and took care of all your other needs, so that makes you my patient." She gave a frustrated Waylon a crooked grin, sat back in the chair and sang quietly. Waylon gave up, closed her eyes and listened to the beautiful voice of the Dude.

Oh she may be weary
them young girls they do get wearied
wearing that same old miniskirt dress
but when she gets weary
you try a little tenderness
oh man that un hunh
I know she's waiting
just anticipating
the thing that you'll never never possess
no no no
but while she there waiting
try just a little bit of tenderness
that's all you got to do
now it might be a little bit sentimental no
but she has her greaves and care
but the soft words they are spoke so gentle
yeah yeah yeah
and it makes it easier to bear
oh she wont regret it

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A light vibration woke Waylon; she reached down to her hip and pulled her pager off her belt. Looking at the small screen with blurry eyes, she tried to make out the code. Seeing that it was the doctor's lounge, she ignored it and rolled onto her side. Her eyes widened when she saw Hudson sound asleep in the chair next to her bed. Tracing her angular features with her eyes, she saw just how classically beautiful the tall doctor was. From the perfectly arched dark brows down to her strong chin, she loved her high cheekbones and the way her pink lips curled upwards at the corners. She was thoroughly shocked that with just having met Hudson that she could feel such an attraction to her. "Just what are you doing Waylon?" She asked herself but continued to watch Hudson sleep.

"Might as well get some more rest." Kat whispered from the doorway. "We have about eight inches of snow outside and it's a blizzard out there." She stepped further into the room and stopped beside Hudson. "We've got call-ins from our replacements and the news jockeys are saying to stay off the roads unless there's an emergency."

Waylon groaned and fell back into her pillow. "Just great, that means we're all stuck here until the snow ends and our replacements make it in." She swung her legs over the bed, pulled her IV out and eased off the bed. "Tell everyone to make sure we're set up for any emergencies that come in and to get some rest." She walked from the room and headed for the bathroom, she hated being stuck because of bad weather. After relieving herself, she went back to the examine room. She stopped in front of Hudson and shook her shoulder to wake her. "Hudson wake up." She shook her shoulder again and saw her eyes flutter open. "We're snowed in, go grab a bed and get some real rest."

"Snow...how much snow?" She stretched and got up from the hard wooden chair.

"Too much snow as far as I'm concerned, go get some sleep."

"Sleep," she rubbed her eyes and looked around the room until her eyes fell on the bed next to the one that Waylon had been using. "Sleep is good." She stumbled over to the bed and fell forward to land face down, within seconds she was asleep and snoring.

"Unbelievable." Waylon mumbled before crawling into the other bed and lying on her side to watch Hudson sleep. "Good night, Dude."

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Lashawna and Jack fell through the ER doors and lay sprawled on the floor, their bodies covered in snow and their pants soaked past the knee. They looked to each other and started laughing. "Jack, I can't get up." She tried to roll over but with the amount of clothes she had on, she moved as if she were a turtle stuck on its back.

"That's OK, I think I'm frozen to the floor, ya think anyone will notice us here?"

"Guess what guys, you've been noticed." Tara tried to pull Lashawna to her feet and ended up falling on top of her. "Jesus Christ woman, what have you got on under there?" She tapped her chest and heard a funny sound.

Lashawna looked to Jack and back to questioning golden eyes. "Uhhmm a...x-ray apron, we thought..."

"They would keep us warm, only problem is...don't fall down." Jack struggled to get her thick jacket off and then to try and get out of the apron. "We are not shoveling anymore snow," She tossed a handful of the freezing stuff at an approaching Waylon. "Send someone else out there next time."

"Why were you guys out there and not building maintenance?" Waylon asked as she helped Jack out of the apron.

Lashawna was finally able to get up from the floor; she shrugged her shoulders and looked to Tara. "He's upstairs working on incubators or something, ya know for the auxiliary generators in case we loose power."

Waylon's brows dropped over her nose, she knew it didn't take six men to check the generators, two at the most. "They're all up there?"

"Nope, only Bob's here, the other guys high tailed it as soon as the weather got bad."

Waylon stomped her foot, threw her hands over her head and swore. "Son of a bitch!" She covered her face, took a deep breath and turned to the snowy landscape outside the ER doors. "Don't worry about the snow, I'll figure something out later. Right now we have to get things set-up for when the idiots in SUV's find out they are not indestructible." She turned and started to walk back towards the nurse's station when Hudson came down the hall with her arms full of shovels and brooms. She gave her a slight nod and continued on her way to the front door of the ER. "What is she doing now?" Waylon mumbled and went back towards where she had come from; she looked between the other three women and then went to the door. "I don't believe it, she and her bums are out there shoveling the ambulance bay." Pushing the door open a bit, she watched as Hudson joked around with the bums as they cleared out the area so that patients and ambulances could get in. Usually, one of the maintenance men would use the plow on his truck and make quick work of it. Unfortunately, he was one of them that had left before his shift was over and would be looking for a new job when he did return if she had her say. Shaking her head when the group outside started singing, she turned to Jack and Lashawna.

"Go down to the cafeteria and have them make up, sandwiches, coffee and a big pot of soup." She noticed their slack jaws and raised an eyebrow. "What, I can be nice sometimes, besides, Hudson's buddies are doing us a big favor."

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Two hours later, Waylon stepped into the cafeteria and watched Hudson with her six buddies eating at one of the far tables. Their laughter brought a small smile to her face and warmed a small spot in her heart. She couldn't remember when it happened, but she saw the homeless and thought them less than human, almost animalistic in the way they lived outdoors. Now she was seeing that they were just like everyone else and she felt horrible for her prior judgments. She was about to leave when she heard her name called and saw Hudson waving to her, taking a deep breath, she walked over and offered a small smile to the group.

"The guys want to thank you for supper; they would have ended up at the shelter and maybe not have gotten anything to eat."

"It's the least I could do since they shoveled all that snow." She gave each one of them a smile and was shocked when each man shook her hand and thanked her personally. She nodded her head to Hudson, walked a few feet away and waited for her. "If they want, they can stay down in the boiler room, there are cots down there and locker room facilities they can use."

Hudson squeezed her shoulder and gave her a bright smile. "Thanks Waylon, this will mean a lot to them."

"Do any of them know anything about generators and boiler systems, we only have one maintenance man here. And if anything happens, I don't think he'll be able to handle it all by himself."

"Yeah, Larry and Jose` can fix just about anything and the other guys can help with snow removal and salting the sidewalk and bay." She looked over to her friends and motioned to an empty seat. "Come over and join us for a while?"

"I should really be getting back upstairs..." Her hand was taken by a larger one and she was pulled towards the table. For the next hour, she sat with them and laughed more in that short time than in the last month. The men entertained her with stories of Hudson as a young teenager on the streets of Washington; it was at that point that she realized that these men had raised the tall woman. She glanced into smiling blue eyes and saw a devotion to the group of rag tag men, she had never been devoted to anything but herself and it hurt. Before she could excuse herself, her pager went off and then the PA system called all personnel to the ER. She waved to the small group and ran from the cafeteria as if the hounds of Hell was on her heels. Bill crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back in his chair and raised a bushy white eyebrow at Hudson.

"So Dude, she had no idea you were a street urchin and have six dads?" Hudson dropped her eyes to the table and shook her head.

"I've only known her for a couple days, and she's not exactly the kind of woman you go up to and say, hey you just tossed my dads out in the snow."

The men chuckled at her because they knew how the public saw them; they were the picture of failure, refuge of civilization and not worth a damn. No one ever thought of them as giving humans who would take care of an orphaned child that the states system had forgotten about. "You like her don't you, even though she's kinda distanced?"

"You guys know my weakness for blondes with huge egos." She jumped when her pager went off, looking at the display, she rolled her eyes. "Duty calls guys, I'll see ya'll later."

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"Calm down sir and let me look at your burns!" Waylon struggled with the irate man and gasped when he kicked her in the stomach. "Restrain him while I see what his wife has to say about this." She held her stomach and leaned up against the wall to catch her breath. Going out into the hallway, she saw the mans wife sitting in a chair with a pair of jumper cables in her lap. "Ma'am, I'm Dr. Porter, can you tell me what happened?"

The woman looked up at her and snorted. "That ignorant asshole thought if he hooked his battery operated heat socks to the car battery, they would keep his feet warmer." She waved the cables at Waylon. "He should have attached the damn things to his nuts! Impotent Viagra popping moron, yesterday, he put spikes through the tire chains thinking it would help with traction..." Waylon busted out laughing despite fighting it.

"Let me guess, the car has four flat tires?"

"And is stuck to the driveway, the spikes are embedded in the asphalt."

Waylon wiped the tears from her cheeks, nodded at the woman and went back into the examination room. "Get his burns dressed and give him a round of antibiotics and a script for burn cream." She went out to the ER desk and picked up a chart, a low groan came past her lips when she recognized the patient. Using the phone, she called Hudson's pager and then went into the examination room.

"Soo who are you today, she asked before looking up at the man."

"What are you blind or what, I'm in a diaper, big fluffy white wings and a bow with a quiver full of arrows. Who else would I be if not Cupid!?" She glanced up, and her jaw fell open as an arrow flew towards her chest. She fell back into a solid body behind her and grabbed at the arrow sticking out of her. "He shot me, that asshole shot me!" She was eased to the floor and looked down to see long tanned fingers pressing around the shaft of the arrow before passing out.

"SECURITY!" Hudson yelled and then scooped Waylon up into her arms for the second time in as many days. "Get Cupid in cuffs and call the police." She ordered and carried an unconscious Waylon down the hall to another exam room, after laying her on the bed; she called Jack and Tara to the room. "You need a body guard, Squirt," She glanced up from removing Waylon's lab coat to see Jack and Tara rushing into the room. "Cupid tried his magic on her; So Squirt has an arrow lodged in her breastbone and no other injuries." She stepped back to let Jack check the wound and ran a hand down her sweating face.

"Good news Dude, it's what hunters use for squirrels. A couple of sutures and she'll be good as new...pissed off and sore but alive." She looked up at a pale faced weaving Dude and nodded her head at Tara. "Dude needs to sit down before I have to put sutures in her cracked head."

Tara took her by her upper arm and led her over to a chair, "Don't you pass out on me Dude, you're way too big for me to pick up off the floor." She grabbed a cold pack, pushed Dude's head down between her knees and put the cold pack on the back of her neck.

"I'm OK; I just hate the sight of blood, especially a friends."

"Good thing you're a shrink then, just sit there and take deep breaths while we take care of...what did you call her...Squirt?" She chuckled at Hudson's groan and went to assist Jack.

"I'll be back in a second," She stood up to her full six feet and clenched her hands into fists. "I have some wings to clip."

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The entire medical staff that was on duty went running when they heard blood-curdling screams coming from the open door of the stairwell. The scream echoed and brought their attention upward to where Hudson had Cupid held over her head at the top of the stairs over looking them from the railed landing.

"Ohh come on now, you have wings so if I throw you over the side you should be able to float to the ground."

"I CAN'T FLY...PLEASE...I'LL DIE...I'M NOT...CU!"

"I bet you didn't think of that when you shot Dr. Porter now did you?" She juggled his weight above her head and gave out a laugh that terrified everyone when he screamed again. "I'm sure your mother Aphrodite will be pissed when she finds out you killed a possible love connection."

"Ohh God I didn't mean to kill her...I'm not really Cupid." He whimpered and screamed when his body was tossed out over the watching crowd. His descent came to a springing halt and was reversed by the bungee cord attached to his wing harness.

"That's OK, I wasn't really gonna kill you." She jogged down the steps and gave everyone a rakish smirk. "Have the boys in blue lock his ass up in his little diaper, by the time he gets out he won't have to pretend he's crazy."

Kat placed a hand on her elbow to stop her. "What if he presses charges against you for attempted murder...what you did...?"

Hudson gave her a lopsided grin and patted her hand. "Don't worry, I'm certified, a few cards short, elevator stops halfway up, etc. I'm untouchable so to speak." She walked out of the stairwell and turned around. "Elvis just told me to tell you all, hey." She busted out laughing at the dropped jaws and then skipped off down the hall to find where Waylon was.

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Waylon woke from a troubled sleep, stretching her arms over her head, she gasped out from the sharp pain in her chest. Running a hand over the hospital gown in confusion, it all came back to her in a flash. "Son of a bitch," She groaned and tried to sit up in the bed. "I can't believe I got shot in my own hospital."

"Neither can I," Hudson said from the doorway. "How are you feeling?" She stepped slowly into the room and stopped a ways from the bed. "I wish I had gotten there first, maybe I could have prevented it?"

"It wouldn't have mattered which one of us had gotten there, he would have still gotten one of us." She rolled onto her side to face Hudson. "Thank you for helping me...again," She blushed and looked to the floor. "So where do you keep your armor hidden?"

Hudson grinned and wiggled an eyebrow. "I wear Superman underwear is that close enough?"

Chuckling at Hudson, she nodded her head and then swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Can you hand me my scrubs so I can get back to work?"

"Uhhmm nope," She shook her head and backed away from Waylon. "You have to stay in bed until Jack says differently and I have to go make a statement to the police." She shuffled her feet, glanced up quickly, and returned her eyes to her shoes. "If I don't see you later, I hope you feel better." She quickly left the room leaving Waylon fuming and confused by her statement and lack of help. Reaching for the phone, Waylon called Jack's pager and then got dressed paying special attention to the bandage on her chest.

"You rang, Squirt?" Jack asked from the doorway.

"Why does Hudson have to give a statement to the police and not me?" She pulled her shoes on with a grimace.

"Ohhh well, she kinda threw Cupid off the landing in the stairwell. She was pissed because he shot you." She shrugged her shoulders and helped Waylon with her lab coat.

"She did what...is she nuts or something?" She pushed Jack out of the doorway in time to see Hudson led from the ER in handcuffs. "Hey wait a minute there, you can't take her away!" She gripped her chest and jogged up to the officer. "Stop right there and take the cuffs off her, she saved my life!"

The officer shook his head and pushed Hudson out the door. "Sorry doc but she's being arrested and charged with attempted murder, lets go Dude, you know the routine."

"Yeah I do, do I get to sit up front and play with the lights and sirens on the way in?"

"Have I ever made you sit in the back?" He took her outside despite Waylon cussing up a storm.

"Hey Barry, can I have a second with doc before she blows a gasket?" At the nod of his head, she walked over to Waylon. "I'll be all right, go back inside, take care of yourself and could you let my dads know where I am?"

"Hudson, this isn't right! That Cupid guy should be locked up, not you!"

"No, Barry's just doing his job; I did toss the guy over the railing so I gotta pay for my temper." She grinned down into dark green eyes. "I should be out in a few days if I'm really good." She turned and got into the front seat of the cruiser and waited for Barry to close the door.

Waylon gripped her chest in pain and watched the cruiser's tires fight for purchase before it pulled away in a shower of snow and slush. Stomping her foot, she went back inside and headed for the locker room.

@@@@@@@@

"Jack see if Kat will come down and give you a hand with patients, I have to go over to the police station and bail Hudson out."

Jack froze where she was standing at the coffee mess and looked at a pissed off Waylon. "What do you mean bail her out...they arrested her for the Cupid thing didn't they?"

"Yep, I'm gonna go see if I can get her out after I tell her friends what happened." She pulled her coat on and left the locker room before Jack could say another word. Taking the stairs down to the boiler room, she opened the door to find the guys playing poker with Bob. Stopping at the side of the table, she looked over Bob's shoulder and shook her head.

"There's a problem, Hudson was just hauled off to jail for attempted murder." She watched everyone drop their cards and give her their up most attention. "Is there anything I need to know before I go over there and try to bail her out?" Bill stood and pointed to a spot that would give them some privacy.

"Doc, Hudson has a record as long as all our arms put together, granted most of them are from when she was younger and are sealed. But she's no stranger to the inside of a jail; it's like a second home to her." He ran his hands through his thick white hair and looked to his feet. "I don't know if you'll be able to help her, they may keep her because she's a flight risk."

"Wait a minute here, a flight risk? She's a doctor for Christ sakes and she's needed here."

"The judge won't see it that way I'm afraid, she doesn't have a permanent residence and has skipped off before." He sighed and took her hand. "I'll go with you and see if I can help some way, but I can't guarantee anything. Can you give me 30 minutes to get ready; I'd like to clean up a bit?"

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Hudson took a defensive stance six feet away from her opponent, rearranging her hakama, keikogi and kiji do, she nodded her head at him. He rushed her and in a single movement, she had him on the floor with a wrist caught in a tight grip and a foot on his throat. She released him and backed up to take her stance again. "OK boys, circle me and just maybe one of you will get lucky." Eight police officers took positions around her and in pairs, they rushed her, in a flurry of moves and seconds later, she was the only one standing. "You boys are slow, who wants to spar with bokuto's?" She had one taker on her offer; she nodded her head and went to a corner to get the rest of her protective equipment. Being a seventh degree Don in Aikido and Kendo, she offered her services to the police department in self-defense to help keep them safe on the street. When she was ready, she stepped to the center of the room and exchanged bows with her opponent, immediately; she noticed that the young officer had a huge chip on his shoulder. Using panther like movements, she ghosted past him and kicked him in his ass. Laughing, she waved a hand at him. "Come on little man I know you can do better than that." She lifted the titanium men from her face and blew him a kiss that enraged him further. He raised his bokuto over his head and grunted when she blocked it with the back of the kote on her left hand.

@@@@@@@

Bill shook his head and slapped Waylon on her upper arm, he had been fighting not to bust out laughing each time he caught her staring on the walk to the police station.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you look so different...you..."

"I only clean up for special reasons and it's a good thing I had my bag with me;" He straightened his pale blue silk tie and his overcoat. "Hudson's gonna owe me big time for this, I just hope I can convince the judge to let her out on bail. It's been a while since I've been in a courtroom as a lawyer." Waylon stopped mid-step and stared with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "Hey, I wasn't always a bum ya know, I was pretty good in the courtroom years ago and it's a good thing I've kept up with the new laws and everything." They walked up the steps to the police station; Bill held the door for Waylon and then followed her inside. Stomping the snow from their feet and brushing what they could from their clothes, they went up to the desk Sgt.

"I'm looking for Hudson Halgenberg; she was brought in over an hour ago." Bill said and waited for the Sgt to check his computer. The Sgt stopped what he was doing and brought unbelieving eyes up to Bill.

"Holy shit, is that you Billy?" He slapped a hand down on the counter when Bill grinned at him. "She's upstairs playing with the guys; the charges were dropped because Cupid ahhh...told everyone that he was getting bungee jumping lessons from her." He winked at them and waved them towards the stairs. "She's in the training room doing her thing and no, I won't tell you why the nutcase changed his mind." He grinned evilly before going back to his paperwork.

"OK, now that just told me that Cupid got to read that great big phone book they keep in the interview rooms." Waylon waited for Bill to say that she was right and frowned when he remained quiet. "I'm right aren't I, you can tell me."

"More like they hung him off the roof by his ankles."

"Remind me to never get arrested in this state; God only knows what they would do to me. Now where is Hudson so I can kick her ass?" They went up the stairs and down the hallway to the last room on the right, on the way; they passed officers in ghi's who were rubbing various body parts. Waylon looked to a grinning Bill and walked through the door quickly, she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her. She watched as Hudson swung her bokuto effortlessly and forced her opponent back towards the wall. Swinging her bokuto upward, she stopped and held the tip at her opponent's chest. "Ya give up Lt, or ya wanna go again?"

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Waylon grabbed a spare titanium men, kote's, kiji do and bokuto from the floor, she donned the protective gear and strode towards Hudson. Raising the bokuto up, she tapped Hudson on the top of her head. "You are dog meat Dude; turn around here so I can kick your ass!" Hudson turned slowly and busted out laughing at Waylon.

"You have got to be kidding me, Waylon these aren't toys ya know."

"Ohh believe me I know they're not toys, so come on Dude." She dropped back, took her stance and waited for Hudson.

"I don't wanna hurt you Squirt, so put down the bokuto and let's go back to the...shit!" She jumped out of Waylon's way and went on the defense when Waylon rushed her, spun and took a cheap shot at her kidneys. "Hey that's not fair, you can't...damn!" It looked like the Keystone cops, Hudson ran in circles with Waylon running after her.

"Is the Dude afraid of sparring a fourth degree?" She stopped and waited for Hudson to stop and face her. "Chicken shit..."

"Did you say fourth degree," She stepped closer and raised the men from her face. "Fourth in kendo or some other discipline?"

"Of course kendo, I studied in New York for ten years before coming here to kick your ass."

"Squirt, we can't do this, you're hurt."

"Shut-up and spar Dude."

Bill stood back and watched them circle each other before Waylon lunged at Hudson, for 45 minutes, they sparred and showed off other disciplines in their moves. Finally, Hudson dropped to her knees before Waylon and bowed her head. "I give up you win, can we go now?" She peeked up and then fell over on to her back when Waylon nodded her head.

"Nice dress there Dude, come on we got patients waiting and my chest hurts."

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The three of them trudged through almost two feet of snow, Hudson grabbed Waylon's arm keeping her from falling into the street and kept hold of her all the way back to the hospital. When they made it through the doors, they were covered from head to foot with the dreaded white stuff and half frozen. Bill waved to them, took the stairs down to the boiler room to shower and change back into his other clothes. Waylon shivered and looked up into tired pale blue eyes and grinned.

"Whooped your ass Dude and now I'm going to take a hot shower and get some sleep." She headed down the hall and stopped, looking over her shoulder, she said. "If any whack jobs come in, don't call me, I think they want to convert me or something." She chuckled when Hudson shook her head and walked stiffly in the opposite direction.

@@@@@@@

Tara rushed into one of the examining rooms and shook Waylon's shoulder until her eyes fluttered open and she groaned. "We have a husband and wife team coming in, multiple stab wounds and contusions. The wife is the first one arriving in about two minutes."

"Damn it to Hell, why can't they beat each other up after the snow is gone and I'm at home in my own bed?" She swung her legs over the side of the examining bed and shuffled behind Tara. "Get one of the rooms ready and I'll be there in a minute." She stopped and yelled over her shoulder. "Get security there in case we have any problems with them, I don't need any more bullshit around here." She went on her way to the bathroom after Tara nodded her head and jogged off down the hallway towards the ER. As soon as she came out of the bathroom, the paramedics were coming down the hall with a screaming woman strapped down on the gurney; she approached and saw her blood splattered clothes and the multiple bruises and contusions on her face and arms. "What have we got, guys?" She asked as she pulled on a pair of gloves and pointed to the examine room where Tara was standing.

"Broken left arm, bruises, contusions and one Hell of a temper, her husband is cut up like a steak and has possible fractures to both legs." Waylon gave the paramedic a funny look and urged him to continue. "When we got there, she was using a baseball bat on him. It took four cops to pull her off and then all of us to get her on the gurney."

Waylon nodded and then looked to Tara. "Full tox screen, CBC, cat scan and a chest x-ray and make sure she's cuffed to the bed with a guard." She went out of the room to await the next ambulance, she knew that the husband was the more serious of the two cases and that the wife could hold off until the tests came back. Pulling on another pair of gloves, face shield and plastic gown, she ran for the ER doors and ran beside the husbands gurney. "What have we got?"

"Knife wounds to the chest, stomach, back and shoulder, unconscious at the scene, crashed once in the ambulance and has a thready everything. We have two bags of O pos going in, saline and sucs, no breath sounds on left side and we put a plaster over the chest wound, it was sucking."

"OK, get him in number five and help me get him on the table." There was a flurry of people running around the room; Jack came sliding into the room still donning her face shield.

"Hey ya, someone get me a respiratory setup and trac tube." Jack said as she went to the head of the table while Waylon cut the mans clothes from his body. "What the Hell happened to him, he jump out in front of a snowplow?"

"Nope, his wife and what looks like a butcher knife. Not to mention she was playing Willy Mays with his legs, check the pressure pants for me when ya get done." Jack tipped his head back, shined a penlight down his throat, slid the tube down his throat and blew up the bulb to seal the air from escaping through his airway. Taping the tube in place, she attached the tube for the oxygen and then went to the foot of the table to check the pressure pants that the paramedics had placed on him. "Judas Priest, this guys legs are wasted, if he survives, he's looking at a year in casts."

"Give me a hand and take care of the stomach wound, I've got to close up this sucking wound and re-inflate his lung." She jumped back when a stream of blood shot out from under the plaster when she removed it. "Shit...we got an arterial bleeder here; get me the rib-spreader and suction."

An hour later with her and Jack covered in blood and exhausted, they went down the hall to check on the wife. They pushed the curtains back and yelled for security. The guard and Tara lay in an unconscious heap next to the bed with its handrail missing. Jack dropped to the floor, cradled Tara in her arms and checked for a pulse. "She's alright, just a nasty bruise on her jaw, better call Kat before someone else calls her."

"I'll call her, what about the guard?" Waylon asked and walked over to the phone on the wall.

"Looks like she busted him in the jaw too, who is this woman?"

"No idea but security had better find her quick." She called Kat and then pulled the security officers into the hallway to give them instructions and a description. They started to laugh when she told them that she had the bed railing attached to her by way of handcuffs but thought better when her eyes flashed fire. Thinking of something else, she went back to the phone and called the boiler room, when Bill answered, she gave him the heads up and told him to call security if the woman ended up down there. Walking over to a cabinet, she pulled out a syringe of tranquilizer and searched for a weapon to use if she ran into the woman. Picking up a bedpan, she shook her head and then grabbed one of the heavy metal set-up trays. "You better pray that security finds you and I don't because if I hit you with this, you'll spend the next week in La la land." With the tray carried in front of her with both hands, she walked quietly through the hallway and looking into each room that she came to.

30 minutes later, she had come up empty and hadn't heard anything from security, thinking that maybe the woman had left the hospital, she started to jog back to the ER and stopped when she caught the sound of clanking metal in the stairwell. Easing up to the door, she stood to the side, brought the tray over her left shoulder and waited for it to open. When the door was flung open wide, she swung the tray, felt the impact and heard a loud howl of pain. Dropping the tray with a clatter, she pulled the syringe from her lab coat pocket and almost stabbed Hudson in her thigh. "Ohhh son of a bitch!"

"Thought that was me coming through the door huh, too bad you don't have a weapon 'cuz I'm getting out of here and I'm taking you with me!" Waylon looked up into crazed brown eyes of the abusive wife and shuddered, she looked down at an unconscious Hudson and saw the blood pouring from her broken nose and groaned. She jumped back when the woman swung the bedrail at her; she fell to the floor and crab-walked backwards towards the wall. Wrapping her fingers around the syringe, she waited for the woman to come after her. At the last possible second, she jammed the needle into her thigh and rolled away from her. "You bitch!" The woman screamed just before she fell on her face in the hallway.

"That's what you get for calling me a bitch." She scurried over to Hudson and cradled her head in her lap. "You're gonna kill me when you wake up." She used the bottom of her lab coat to staunch the flow of blood from her nose until she found 4x4's in her pocket. Holding them in place, she pulled Hudson's cell phone from her belt and called the nurses desk. "I need two gurneys on the second floor and security, I got the crazy wife and I knocked out Dr. Halgenberg." She hung up the phone and wiped dark bangs back from Hudson's forehead. "I am in sooo much trouble here." She moved so that she had Hudson lying against her chest with her head tipped back over her arm. It seemed like hours before the nurses came with the gurneys and they got back down to the ER. The entire time in the short elevator ride, the nurses kept looking at her and snickering.
@@@@@@@@@@

She sat in a chair beside Hudson's bed for hours waiting for her to wake up, she glanced occasionally at her bruised and swollen face but found it too painful. Dropping her head down onto folded arms, she started to doze off when she felt her pager vibrate against her hip and then her name paged. Getting to her feet, she caressed Hudson's forearm down to her long fingers before going down to the ER. Rubbing a hand across her face, she looked to Tara and saw that she was as tired as everyone else was. So far, they had over three foot of snow and it didn't look like it was letting up anytime soon. Washington DC and surrounding areas had been declared a disaster and all businesses had been closed. For once, someone was using their heads and closing everything down to keep people off the streets, except for the idiots who risked their lives because they just had to have that package of Twinkies. What the paramedics came through the door with was the last thing she expected. Holding back a chuckle, she went to met them along with Tara and Jack. She looked down at the man lying on his stomach and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sir, just how did you manage to get a window pane stuck to your gluteus?"

"You would not believe me if I told you and if my wife finds out I'll be in bigger trouble!" He covered his face when they rolled him down the hallway to an examining room.

"Jack, call Lashawna and have her bring me a toilet plunger and a bucket of hot water." She winked at a slack-jawed Tara before going for a rubber apron and gloves. When Lashawna brought the needed items, she looked into the room and busted out laughing.

"Damn! That is the hairiest white ass I've ever seen!" She fell against Jack and wiped her eyes. "How'd he get his ass stuck on a window?"

"Do you two mind, this is embarrassing enough without you looking at me." The man said and pulled the small pillow over his head.

Waylon took the toilet plunger, wet the end and pressed it carefully down onto the glass, she signaled to Jack and Tara to use cups to pour the water on the glass while Lashawna squirted the area of flesh around the glass. The man kept screaming when Waylon pulled on the plunger handle and let out a loud hair rising scream when it came loose. "Since we got you free, we wanna know how this happened?" She asked while waving the plunger in front of his nose.

"My buddies were in a bar down the street, I thought it would be funny to moon them. I slipped in the snow and my ass went up against the window. I'll be the laughing stock for the next 20 centuries and won't be able to show my face again."

Waylon chuckled and slapped him on his shoulder. "I think you'll remain anonymous unless you drop your pants." She gave Tara instructions for his care and went towards the locker room to take a shower and change scrubs. Tossing her dirty scrubs into a hamper, she went to her locker in her sports bra and silk boxers. Taking a small bag out, she went towards the shower room and was pleased to find it clean and empty. "God bless Lashawna." She mumbled on her way to one of the shower stalls, Adjusting the water, she striped out of the rest of her clothes and stepped under the spray. Lathering her short hair, she scrubbed her scalp and moaned when she ducked her head and let the hot water rinse her hair and pound on her tense muscles.

"I bet that feels really good on sore muscles." A nasally sounding voice came from behind her. "Wish I could get some relief that way." She looked over her shoulder with one eye and jumped at the sight of the very swollen face of Hudson watching her as best she could through the slits of her eyes. "I know I'd be a big hit if it was Halloween, maybe we can arrange to have my face rearranged for that Holiday." She ran a finger down the metal brace protecting her swollen nose. "That is if someone would tell me who hit me and with what?"

Waylon crossed her arms over her breasts and turned part way towards Hudson. "Do you mind not starring at me," She twirled a finger at Hudson and growled when she didn't move. "Come on Dude, give me some privacy here."

"Why, it's not like I can really see anything but a blurry body," She licked her lips and tried to wiggle an eyebrow. "What I do see looks good, care ta come closer?"

"Get lost Hudson or I'll hit you ag...just go away." She hoped that Hudson's eyesight was bad enough that she couldn't see the bright blush running up her neck an cheeks.

"Ohh so you're the one who hit me, I figured as much since everyone snickered when I asked where you were." She stepped close enough that her feet were sprayed from the showerhead. "I'll forgive you if you help me eat supper, I can't see two inches in front of my humongous nose."

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Hudson sat on the old couch in the lounge with Waylon mumbling beside her, Hudson opened her mouth and waited for Waylon to put the fork in her mouth. She moaned happily, as she chewed and kept peeking at Waylon, she thought it was hilarious that her mouth moved but no words came out.

"Can I ask you something Hudson, how come I've never seen you here before?"

"Easy, I traveled between here and St. Elizabeth's and when Dr. Magoo retired, I took over his position. I didn't think that the staff would beat the Hell outta me within two days of working here fulltime" She opened her mouth and grinned around the roll that Waylon had shoved in her mouth.

"The week's not over yet Dude, you could get bit by a rabid troll or something."

"Just to be safe, I'll call the local pet store and get a muzzle for you." She jumped off the couch and pulled her shirt and the front of her pants away from her body. "HEY!"

"Sorry Dude, your Pepsi just slipped through my fingers." She patted her wet chest and held back a wicked grin. "You might wanna go take a shower before you get sticky and put some clothes on that don't make you look like a gang banger."

"I could use some help with my shower, ya know point me in the right direction of the soap and stuff, maybe wash my back for me?"

"I'll send Jack and Lashawna to help you, I'm sure they'll enjoy themselves." Waylon left Dude standing there, growling and using napkins to try and clean herself up.

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Bill looked up from their poker game and squinted at Hudson; he let out a low whistle and got up from the table to escort her over to a vacant chair. "Jesus Dude, what in the Hell happened to you?" He cupped her face with his large hands and looked closer at her bruised face and broken nose.
"I could lie and say that it's from goosing a nurse but some of them would enjoy it."

"Uhh huh, you're notorious for your charming ways, so what really happened?"

"Waylon clobbered me with a metal tray when I came through the door to the stairwell. We had a loose nutcase and she thought I was her." He chuckled and squeezed her shoulder.

"She wasn't too far off with that assumption," he ducked her playful jab at him and whimpered when she hit his ribs. "So did she get the right one after clobbering you?"

"Scuttlebutt says that she jabbed her with a tranquilizer and dropped her seconds after she dropped me. Here I thought she was just dangerous sparring; now I know she's dangerous in other places."

"Dude, I hope you have a will and life insurance, 'cuz if you're thinking what I am, one night and you're toast." Hudson groaned when her other friends started laughing along with the maintenance man.

"I don't think I have to worry about that," She looked down at her clasped hands and spoke in a whisper. "She's not interested that's plain to see, besides, I might be a doctor but she sees a bum."

"Ohh knock it off Dude, there is nothing wrong with you. What you did when you were younger is done and over with." He pressed a soft kiss to her temple and gave her a tight hug. "Go on up stairs and get some rest, maybe we'll be able to get to our homes sometime this week."

"Yeah and maybe the workers will get my place done so I can kinda have a semi normal life." She rose up out of her chair, kissed Bill on his cheek and left the guys to their game.

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Waylon, Jack, Lashawna, Tara and Kat were all in the lounge talking about the escape attempt and Waylon and her finesse with a tray. Waylon was ten shades of red when they presented her with one with her name written across it in gold letters. At first, they were going to give her the railing from the bed but knew that it would be missed. Kat leaned into her shoulder, pressed her lips close to her ear and whispered.

"So I hear that you and Bill went to bail her out of jail and ended up doing your Kung Fu stuff with her at the police station. What else do ya wanna do with our nut doctor?" She wiggled her brows at her to get her point across.

"Ohh please, I've known her for a couple days, and you know me better than that."

"Yeah, but I've also seen how you look at her...well now it's kinda hard to look at her and not cringe."

"You guys are never gonna let me live that down are ya, it was an accident, it could have been one of you ya know?" The snickering stopped when they realized that she was right. They all turned towards the door when they heard an awful noise coming closer and cringed when Hudson came through the door holding her head and singing. "Hudson stop before I hit you again, you sound like Kermit the frog."

"Damn and I thought I had something good going on here." She ran her fingers through her hair and moaned with pain. "I need some good drugs or something, any volunteers to get me some, I can't see the labels?" All eyes turned to Waylon and then fingers pointed. "Come on Hudson, I'll get you something and a pair of scrubs that fit." She took in the too small scrubs and rolled her eyes. "If your clothes aren't too big, they're too small; I can almost see your kneecaps."

"I couldn't see the sizes and I got tired of trying them on." The pouting look on her face made Waylon's heart go out to her; she was just like a big helpless kid. She took her much larger hand in hers and led her from the lounge with the sound of laughter from their friends.

"Why don't you go lie down and get some rest, you can't really take care of any nuts if they come in and it'll help with the swelling." She took her into one of the empty examine rooms down the hall and made her sit down on the bed. "I'll be right back, don't you go wandering off anywhere." Hudson nodded her head and let out a loud groan from the pain, lying back on the bed, she rubbed her temples trying to ease the throbbing pain.

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Waylon searched through the scrubs until she found the right size and then made a trip to the drug locker. Pulling out a bottle of Demerol and a mild tranquilizer, she filled syringes and then went back to the room where Hudson was. Seeing that she was lying on her side and curled in a fetal position, she walked in quietly.

"I'm awake Squirt, you don't have to tip toe around." She sat up on the bed and pulled the scrub shirt over her head, she grinned when Waylon let out a small gasp.

"Uuhhmm...here's a scrub shirt, I got you a large." She leaned against the other bed and stared at the muscled chest and firm breasts on display.

"So is your face a bright red and your jaw dropped?"

Waylon shook her head to clear her lustful thoughts and looked at slit eyes. "Huh?"

"You got real quiet over there, so I was imagining what you must look like." She slid off the bed and dropped the scrub pants in one fluid motion. "So did you get me the bottoms or do I get to walk around like this?" Waylon's mouth went dry; her eyes took in the thick muscular legs and traveled all the way up to closely cropped dark curls. Coming out of her trance, she fumbled with the pants before placing them in Hudson's hand.

"Do you always run around with no underwear?" She forced out in one breath and wiped a hand across her lips.

"Yep, I don't like feeling confined, less laundry to do as well." She pulled the scrubs up and felt a warm hand on hers stopping her from tying them.

"Hold on a minute, I have two shots for ya. Lay down on your side and we'll get this over with." She waited for her to lie down, wiped her hip with an alcohol swab and placed her hand on her lower back. "Don't tense and it won't hurt as much."

"I get the feeling that you just wanna play with my ass." She tensed when the first needle went in and yelped when the other followed. "That burns like a bitch, what did you give me?"

Waylon couldn't help but let her fingers run across the area where she had given the shots, she held back a low moan when the muscles jumped under her fingertips. "Demerol and something to make you sleep, roll over so I can put an icepack on your forehead." She grabbed an icepack, brushed back silky bangs and gently laid it on Hudson's forehead. She let her fingers run through silky hair and looked at her soft pink lips that were slightly parted. She wanted so bad to lean forward and kiss her gently but fought for all she was worth not to. "I'll check on you later," She pulled the sheet and blanket up and ran her fingers down her cheek. "Go to sleep, Dude." She stopped at the door and gazed over her shoulder at the tall doctor and felt her heart skip a beat, she couldn't deny that she was strongly attracted to the woman. "Good night Dude."

"Thanks Squirt." She mumbled before sleep took her.

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What everyone thought would be a quiet night, turned out to be one from Hell. They had numerous cases of severe hypothermia come in from an apartment building that had lost its electricity, a heart attack from shoveling snow and frostbite victims from playing in the fluffy white stuff. By the time, the ER was cleared and things had quieted down, everyone was ready to drop where they stood. Waylon changed into clean scrubs and went to check on Hudson, when she got outside of the door, she snickered and covered her ears before entering. Hudson was snoring so loud that she was sure that the patient's three floors up felt the floor vibrating. Going over to the bed, she eased Hudson onto her side and shook her head when the snoring didn't stop. She brushed her long silky hair off her face and leaned down to place a kiss on her soft cheek. "I'm so sorry that I hit you, if I could take it back I would." Tucking the covers around her, she went over to the other bed, collapsed and fell right to sleep.

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Hudson woke up and moaned from the pounding in her head, that felt like she had a sledgehammer pounding behind her eyes. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she got to her feet, felt the room spin, and fell forward to land across a sleeping Waylon. She gasped loudly when her face landed on Waylon's stomach, darkness came and she started to sink to the floor. Waylon rolled her head to the side, opened her blurry eyes and saw a dark head starting too slid to the floor. She grabbed the back of Hudson's arms and pulled her up onto the bed to lie across her stomach. Checking her neck for a pulse, she felt it beating slowly and felt how hot and sweaty she was. "I hope this isn't your way of flirting, Hudson." She struggled but was able to pull her all the way onto the bed to lie partially across her body. Sliding her one arm under her neck, she placed Hudson's head on her shoulder, brushed sweaty hair from her face and then hugged her to her body. "There are easier ways to get in bed with me...I can't believe I just said that." Closing her eyes, she fell back to sleep within seconds.

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A green eye opened to see a blurry face; Waylon blinked until Jack's face came into focus and then saw that all her friends were gathered around the bed. She tried to stretch and found a heavy weight pinning her to the bed, she moved a hand up to where something was tickling her neck and felt silky hair. Looking down, she caught the glint of the brace across Hudson's nose and groaned. "What are you guys looking at?" She looked around at all the grinning faces and felt a blush working its way up her neck. "Ohh come on get over your evil thoughts, it's not what it seems, what time is it?"

"Doesn't matter what we think Squirt," Jack said. "It's what the Dude will think when you slap her stupid when you realize where one of her hands just happens to be resting and its ten o'clock in the morning."

Waylon looked down at their tangled limbs and saw the large hand firmly placed between her legs and cupping her sex. "Ohh for the love of Gods...what...who does she..."

"Hush Squirt...sleeping." A loud snore came afterward and caused the room to erupt in laughter at Waylon's expense.

"Hudson Halgenberg get your ass up before I throw you on the floor!" Waylon pulled with all her strength but couldn't get Hudson's hand from between her legs. Grabbing the dark hair on her forearm, she yanked on it until blue eyes appeared from behind slits.

"What was that for?" She tilted her head to the side and almost fell off the bed when she saw their audience. "How did I get in bed with you?" She slipped off the edge and felt her legs buckle beneath her and then Tara's strong arms helping her to stand. "Damn what a head rush...now I remember, I was getting up last night and..."

"You passed out and fell on top of me you big idiot," Waylon got out of bed and stretched before looking around at grinning faces. "She did, so just shut up and tell us why everyone is in here?"

Kat clasped her shoulder and gave her a wide grin. "We're free; our relief's finally made it in to work!" She slapped hands with Jack and Lashawna. "We can finally go home and sleep in our own beds," She cast a lecherous look to her wife and wiggled her eyebrows. "Among other things, let's go stud, we have plans for the next twelve hours." She grabbed Tara by her hand and dragged a happy woman out the door.

"We're outta here, see ya guys in a couple days." Jack and Lashawna waved at the other two women and ran from the room yelling. Waylon looked to Hudson who was leaning tiredly against the wall rubbing her temples; her heart went out to her and wished she could take away her pain.

"You have a way home or do you want me to call you a cab?"

"My cars in the underground garage, but I don't think I should drive since I can't see too well." She sat down in a chair and leaned her head against the wall. "I'll just stay in the call room until I have to actually report for duty." She blinked her eyes a few times until she could focus a little. "What about you, do you think the busses are running yet?"

Waylon gave her a raised brow and stepped closer. "How do you know I take the bus home?"

"I saw you get on one the other day, I would have offered you a ride if I had seen you sooner," she thought for a second before asking a favor. "Would you drive me home, you can take my car and then pick me up for work?"

"I can't take your car, what will you do if you need something?"

"There's a store right across from where I live, besides, I don't think the swelling will be gone enough for me to see."

Waylon ran a hand across her eyes to brush away the tears that had formed there; she had never felt so bad in her entire life. "OK, but if you need anything I want you to call me and I'll come and get you," She lifted Hudson's head up with fingers under her chin. "Got that Dude, you call me."

"OK, I got it, call you if I need anything. Let's get out of here before the sky falls or something."

With whatever personal belongings they brought to work with them in hand and after telling Hudson's friends that they could stay in the hospital for as long as they liked, Hudson and Waylon went to the garage for her car. Waylon stopped and felt her jaw hit her chest when they stopped at the silver Dodge Viper; she had never seen a more beautiful car and couldn't believe that Hudson was going to let her drive it.

"Are you sure about this Hudson, I've never driven a sports car before?"

"Yep, I trust you not to peel out and do warp 2000 down the street." She handed her the keys after opening the passenger door and then climbed into sink into the soft leather seat. Closing her eyes, she groaned and then looked over at a grinning Waylon. "Home, Squirt before I crash and end up sleeping in my car."

"OK, just tell me where you live and I'll get you home."

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Waylon looked around the neighborhood that Hudson lived in and felt her hackles rise, there was no way in Hell she would even think about living near this section of town let alone live in it. Street punks stood in doorways, prostitutes hovered together in the cold in the alleys and the Gods only knew what lived in the dark shadows beyond. She got out of the car, took Hudson's elbow and helped her towards the run down building that she said she lived in. As soon as they stepped into the place, her nose wrinkled at the stench of urine, cooking grease and garbage. She was close to spinning Hudson around and back out the door. Then again, she lived in a tiny apartment and thought that maybe Hudson's was like hers despite the way the rest of the building looked. She stopped behind Hudson and waited for her to unlock the door to her apartment and gasped at what she saw when they entered.

"You are not staying here Hudson!" She took the keys from her hands and grabbed her arm. "I refuse to leave you in this Hell hole!"

"It's OK, Waylon, believe me I've lived in worse places and this is only temporary."

"That's hard to believe and you're right, it is temporary because you're not staying here. Now where's your clothes and...shit woman, this place doesn't even have furniture!" She looked around the empty apartment and saw the hammock hanging at the end of the narrow room. "You sleep in a hammock, why?"

"Ohh, to keep the creepy crawlers off of me when I sleep." She gave her a lopsided grin and moved towards the bathroom where her clothes were. "Really it's not that bad, I put all my clothes in plastic bags and only share a little bit of food with the roaches. The last place was worse, the rats use to sit on the couch and watch soap operas all day and then leave empty beer cans everywhere." She felt Waylon behind her and turned to feel a hand come to rest on her chest.

"I don't care if the bugs dance around the place and entertain you, you're coming home with me and that's the end of it. Now let's get your clothes and get the Hell outta this place."

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Hudson fell asleep as soon as she sunk into the leather seat of her car, she didn't wake until she felt her shoulder shaking her awake. "We're here Hudson, let's get inside, it's getting nasty outside and I'm starving." She helped Hudson into her apartment, put her down on the couch and then ran back out to get their stuff, lock and set the alarm on the Viper. When she got back in, she found Hudson with her nose almost touching the TV; she grabbed her by her arm and pushed her back on to the couch. "That's bad for your eyes, sit down and behave yourself while I get us something to eat."

"You know you're worse than a mother and I was trying to see if her...never mind." She flipped through the channels until she came to The Lost World series on TNT, a huge grin came to her face when Jennifer O'Dell who plays Veronica stepped out of the stream and shook her long wet hair out of her eyes. "Ohhh baby...come on bend over a little...," She leaned closer towards the TV and gave out a yelp when she fell off the edge of the couch. "Ohh yeah...nice and firm...silky smooth, just love those...OWWW!" She rubbed the top of her head, looked up into green eyes and felt the heat running up her neck. "Amazon like leathers."

"Here's lunch and stop drooling on my floor." She placed a bowl of Campbell's chunky sirloin burger soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on the coffee table and went back into the kitchen for her own lunch. She had to smile at the thought of Hudson drooling over the actor, she found herself doing the same thing while watching the TV show. All though her tastes ran more to the tall dark bad girl type, she could accept the attraction to the beautiful blonde woman. Taking her lunch into the living room, she sat down next to Hudson and watched her eat for a few moments. "Listen, I'm really sorry that I broke your nose..."

"Don't worry about it Squirt, it'll add some character to my face when the swelling goes down." Waylon shook her head and sighed, if Hudson got any more character in her face, she would have people dropping over with just a glance. She looked up into slit eyes and felt her chest constrict with something she couldn't name. "Honest Waylon, I'm OK and thank you for letting me crash here." She gave a small grin and tilted her head down a little. "My apartment really does suck and I won't miss living out of a garbage bag for a day. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks my apartment and office will be finished and I won't have to have rodents and insects for roommates."

"Where are you moving to and is your office close by?" She took a big bite out of her sandwich and waited for Hudson to finish chewing.

"A couple blocks from the hospital, I bought this run down building and I'm having it redone into an upstairs flat and the downstairs into office space. I wanna start my own practice and treat some pro bono cases; ya know help out the people that can't afford the hundred dollars an hour fee." She placed her empty bowl on the table and leaned back into the soft cushions. "Give back some of the generosity that I got when I was younger."

Waylon placed her bowl inside of Hudson's, folded her legs under her and leaned back against the cushions to think about what Hudson was going to do. She turned her head to look at the tall dark doctor and nodded her head. "How long have you known Bill and the other guys, you all seem so close."

"I met Bill when I was fourteen, he represented me when I got caught boosting a car." She grinned at the shocked look on Waylon's face. "I was not an angel; I'm still not one and never plan on being one. He became real busy with my antics and finally threatened to have them lock my ass up if I didn't straighten out."

"What about your parents, what did they have to say about your... antics?" She saw a sad expression cross Hudson's face and wished she could take back her question. "You don't have to tell me, it's none of my business anyway." She went to get up from the couch and felt a hand come down onto her knee.

"Me and my parents had just come out of the park when a dark car stopped in front of us, we didn't think anything of it since there was parking along the street. In the blink of an eye, gun flashes came from the rolled down window and I saw my dad drop to the ground. I ran over to him and felt a white hot flash in my back and that's all I remember." She sat looking down at her hands for long moments before she raised her eyes to look at Waylon's pain-filled expression. "I woke up a week later in the hospital and found out that both my mom and dad were dead. A social worker came in and asked about relatives and such, when she found out that I didn't have any, she arranged for me to be placed in a foster home. I was a twelve year old orphan who wanted revenge for what had been taken from me." She felt tears trailing down her cheeks and then soft fingertips wiping them away.

"I'm sorry Hudson, I had no idea." She looked down to where she had taken one of the larger hands in hers and felt her own tears fall. "Did you go to a foster home?"

"Nope, before they could arrange it, I escaped from the hospital and disappeared on the streets. I got into a fight with a guy a couple days later and was getting my ass kicked. That was the first time I met the other guys, Jose called Bill and from that moment on, I had six fathers." She grinned a little and took a deep breath. "I may have been living on the streets and didn't have anything but my name but I had them. They made me go to school, helped me with my homework and tried to keep me from becoming too wild. Of course, that didn't happen," She chuckled a bit and continued her story. "I got caught shoplifting, boosting cars, pick pocketing and other asinine things that landed my ass in court."

"Where did you live during all of this, I can't see you living in the alleys and going to school?"

"We had an old condemned building that we lived in until the city bulldozed it, then we just moved around to different places. The guys all get pension and disability checks and that's how they kept me clothed until I was able to get a job and help with stuff. It's not as bad as ya think, I never went hungry and they kept the chicken hawks from getting me." Her look became reminiscent and a small smile lifted the corners of her lips. "I'll never forget the day I graduated from High School, when I got my diploma, the guys all stood up and made more noise than everyone put together. What about you, is your family in the area?" She leaned back and held Waylon's eyes waiting for her to speak, she sat up when tears filled green eyes and a low sobbing noise came from her. "Waylon?"

"It's OK," She wiped her eyes and looked down to her hands. "My dad died years ago from an aneurism and I haven't spoken to my mom in twelve years. She ahhh..." Hudson wrapped her in strong arms and pulled her against her hard body, sobs tore through her for a long time before she quieted and was able to continue with her past. "I went back to New York to see her after being away for a couple of months and the first words out of her mouth were 'When are you going to find a husband and settle down?' She then handed me a list of available men and told me that she had invited one of them over for dinner. I had this guy's life history and portfolio in the time it took me to sit down on the couch!" She chuckled a bit and pressed her face closer to Hudson's neck. "I just sat there with my jaw on my lap and buggy eyes as she told me all about her investigating the men. My temper got the better of me and I yelled 'no' loud enough to make the walls shudder, she just sat there with this determined look on her face and told me 'Since I had not been looking for a husband it was left up to her. Well, I went off and told her that I didn't want any of her help where my love life was concerned and that I was happy with my girlfriend." She wiped her eyes and leaned her head back to look into misty blue slits. "She hit me so hard that I lost a molar, she then told me to get out of her house and to never come back. The whole way to my car, she screamed at me that she didn't have a daughter, that I was dead in her eyes." Hudson wrapped her arms around her tighter when sobs tore through Waylon's body, she ran her fingers through her hair and whispered softly into her ear.

"It's OK Waylon, a family doesn't have to be your own blood, you have plenty of people who care about you, they're your family." She rocked her until the sobbing stopped and deep breaths told her that Waylon had cried herself to sleep. Getting off the couch, she carried Waylon towards where she thought her bedroom was and stopped inside the small room beside her bed. Easing her onto the bed, she pulled a blanket over her and kissed her tear stained cheek. "I care about you Squirt and so do a lot of other people." She went back into the living room, took their dishes to the kitchen and ran water in the sink to wash them. She thought about when she had told the guys that she was gay and they had just smiled at her and made jokes about going to bars to check out the women. They had never passed any judgment on her and accepted her for what she was, countless times they had told her how proud they were of her and no matter what they would always be there for her. That told her the depth of their love for her along with always having a cheering section when she was playing sports in school, which was how she was able to go onto college. She won a full scholarship for Track and when she graduated Summa Cum Laude; they just about deafened the other parents around them. After finishing the dishes, she went back into the living room and lay down on the couch. Her eyes drifted closed while watching the series Charmed, her dreams were that of her fighting demons and having magical powers.

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Continued in Part 2