A Doug Ross/John Carter slash story, rated NC17. Last 
episode seen was "The Middle of Nowhere".

"ER" and all its characters belong to Warner Bros. No 
infringement of their copyright is intended. We're 
returning the characters to Warner Bros. with big smiles on 
their faces. This story was written for the enjoyment of "ER" 
fans everywhere, and may be downloaded for your own pleasure. 
However this story may not be used, distributed or archived 
without the permission of the authors.

We would like to take the opportunity to send a big thank you 
to Michelle, without whom this story would not have been 
possible.

This story is the second story in the "More Than Friends, Less 
Than Lovers" story arc will include the following: Seduction, 
Assignations, Betrayal, Forgiveness, Reunion and Culmination; 
with the story line spanning all five seasons. "More Than 
Friends, Less Than Lovers" is a part of a larger series which 
we call "Carter Does County". This series will have slash 
and heterosexual subject matter. Each story will be 
independent of the others in the series.

"More Than Friends, Less Than Lovers - Assignations"
By: Melissa and Cathy
glroberts@bigfoot.com



"I ordered for you", Doug said as Carter slid into the seat 
opposite him. "Hope you like link sausages, because I'm 
going to get a kick out of watching you eat them."

"Oh, Lord." John had been a little apprehensive that seeing 
Doug again - with clothes on - would be awkward, that he 
might even say he was having second thoughts. Obviously 
that wasn't happening.

"Seriously, though, we do need to talk about a few things." 
Doug paused as the waitress set their food in front of them, 
then continued, "We need to be careful. And I'm not just 
talking about acting normal in the hospital. I want us both 
to get tested for STDs, and I want us to use condoms, all the 
time." He took a sip of coffee, and watched John's reaction. 
"And you keep your hands off Carol."

John nodded his agreement to the conditions, then said, 
"Susan."

Doug was incredulous. "You're not telling me that you 
and Susan..."

"No, but I did almost kiss her once. And I might get a chance 
again one day." He scowled as Doug laughed. "I might!"

"Okay," Doug was still laughing, "if you get to tell me to 
keep away from women you haven't even dated, then you have to 
stay away from Melanie in radiology."

John grinned and shook his head. "Too late!"

They continued trading names for awhile, then John said 
seriously, "I don't want there to be any other men. For 
either of us, Doug."

"There aren't, and there won't be." Even as Doug said the 
words, he was slightly surprised. If a woman he'd just gone 
to bed with the night before suggested over breakfast that 
they not see other people, then he'd have run screaming from 
the room. But that wasn't what John had suggested, was it? 
He wasn't saying Doug couldn't see other women. 

John picked up his fork, determined to embarrass Doug by 
eating every bit as suggestively as Doug had teasingly said. 
He stabbed a sausage link in the middle, then held the fork 
so that the link was vertical. Ever so slowly he brought it 
to his mouth, licking it in one motion from the tines to the 
end, then sticking the end of it in his mouth and slowly 
biting the tip off, devouring the meat in small bites.

Doug grinned, knowing that he would probably be choking if he 
had been stupid enough to take a drink of coffee while John 
was playing with his food. He licked his lips suggestively 
and watched as the sausage link disappeared. He cleared his 
throat, "I think that you should try mine. It's much bigger." 
He pushed his plate toward John, expecting a repeat performance.

Instead, John picked it up with his fingers, sticking nearly 
the entire sausage into his mouth, then slowly pulling it back 
out, licking the juices off of it. John knew he had succeeded 
in his quest to embarrass Doug when Doug had to avert his eyes 
to the side and rest his head on the table. That was when he 
saw her: Jeannie Boulet, who had recently begun working in the
Emergency Room, sitting in the booth behind Doug, looking 
straight at him, her face showing more than a little 
confusion and amusement. John felt himself redden, wishing 
that the floor would open up right under him at that moment. 
No, it would be better for everyone at the hospital if the 
floor under Jeannie would open up and swallow her whole. God, 
why did he think that thought? Swallow her whole indeed? 
Well, there was no way that he was going to allow the fact 
that she probably thought he was crazy get in the way of his 
small victory over Doug. He put the sausage down on his plate, 
then saw that Doug's entire body was shaking. The son of a 
bitch was laughing at him.

Doug got up and turned to Jeannie. He winked and said, "I 
think Carter's scared the customers enough, don't you?" He 
pulled John to his feet, paid the bill, and propelled him 
through the door with a hand on his arm.

John was still horrified. "You should have let me explain. 
Now she's going to tell Benton, and he'll think...God knows 
what he'll think." 

Doug watched John run his fingers through his hair in that 
now familiar panicked gesture, and tried to reassure him. 
"Everyone thinks you're a nut, anyway. They'll just think 
it's funny. Besides, what were you going to tell her? 'I 
was demonstrating a new technique with tongue depressors'?"

"I was thinking about saying 'throat swabs', actually". The 
corners of John's mouth twitched as he began to see the humor 
in the situation. "Cherry flavored."

"Sounds like something for your procedure book. I might need 
to have you give me another demonstration -- see how that 
throat swab works in the field. Might even try it myself." 
They walked through the hospital doors, and their conversation 
was cut short as they ran almost immediately into Peter Benton. 

"Where the hell have you been, Carter? We're scrubbing in on 
an appy with Dr. Hicks in 20 minutes. Let's move!" Benton 
turned and stalked towards the elevators, clearly expecting 
his student to follow at his heels.

John rolled his eyes at the retreating figure, then asked Doug, 
"Look like that demo will have to wait until tonight, I guess." 
He hurried after Benton.

Doug shouted after him, "Hey Carter! You can have Benton. 
Hicks, too!"

Carter laughed as he walked into the elevator with Benton, 
for once ignoring his teacher's glare.

Doug watched, and smiled. This would be fun - a lot of fun.

Over the next few weeks, they carried on a reckless affair, 
stealing time when they could, and checking their inhibitions 
at the doors of their respective apartments. They came to 
prefer staying at John's since there was less chance of someone 
they both knew barging in. Besides, Doug wasn't altogether sure 
that Linda Farrell wouldn't actually offer to join in.

They weren't, however, always able to get their schedules to 
mesh. During one particularly frustrating week, they actually 
stole some time together in the early morning in John's Jeep 
in the parking garage. Shocked at how careless they'd been, 
John and Doug renewed their pact to behave professionally at 
work. It didn't last. 

In the middle of a particularly slow night shift one night, 
Doug led John discreetly to a disused storeroom in the 
basement. John watched, amused, as Doug removed some things 
from a hole in the ceiling tile: a candle, lighter, and a 
tiny radio. When Doug switched the light off in the room 
and locked the door, John said, "Are you romancing me, Doug 
Ross?".

"Romance," Doug said, pausing to light the candle, "is the 
last thing on my mind." He tossed John one of the condoms 
he'd taken from his pocket. "Put this on me."

John ignored the request, walking instead over to the cot 
next to the wall, and promptly knocking some IV stands over. 
He froze for a moment, then ran over to the door, listening 
to see if the noise had drawn any attention. Doug came up 
behind him. "It's deserted down here - no one will have heard 
that. Relax." He gently bit John's ear.

John turned to him, back against the door. "Sounds like 
you've been in this room a lot," he smiled. "How many others 
have you been here with?"

"Just Carol." 

Before John had time to consider the implications of that 
statement, Doug's mouth was on his, and he cast lucid thought 
aside. Doug was frantic, impatient, and demanding, and so 
was he.

Doug found that the darkened room and the chance of discovery, 
however slight, heightened his excitement. He closed his eyes 
as he lay back on the cot, forcing himself to be 
uncharacteristically passive. He let John practically tear 
his clothes open, then felt a gentle hand caress his buttock, 
felt lips close roughly around a nipple.

With a sense of urgency, almost desperation, he pushed John's 
head down. He had no patience with being teased. Fortunately, 
John wasn't in the mood for teasing. He launched an all-out 
assault on Doug's senses, aggressively licking and sucking on 
his penis. All pretense of passivity cast aside, Doug insisted 
that they change positions, so he could have John in his mouth 
at the same time.

As nearly always after one of their encounters, John's 
perceptions blurred, and only parts of the experience remained 
clear. He retained several sensations: the feel of the shaft 
of Doug's penis under his tongue, the taste of the skin on 
Doug's thigh, the smell of his cologne, the muffled sound 
of his groans.

Doug was starting to become slightly worried. He'd promised 
himself that he and John would be completely discreet at work, 
yet here they were lying on a cot in a basement storeroom, 
having just had wild, intense, and probably, if his memory 
served him correctly, loud sex. It was crazy, he knew. He 
just couldn't bring himself to stop it.

He mentioned that he was considering dating Diane Leeds, and 
John mock-jealously named the areas of Doug's body he wasn't 
willing to share. "So basically," Doug said, "I'm only allowed 
to touch her with my left earlobe, is that right?"

"Right. And you can't bring her here." As John gestured 
about the room, he knocked the candle over.

"Damn," Doug said as he surveyed the candle spill. "Hot wax! 
I knew I was forgetting something."

With a wide grin, John handed the lighter to Doug, and Doug 
pretended to seriously consider the idea, then shaking his 
head.

Doug relit the candle, knowing that now he was in the mood for 
teasing. More specifically, to be the one doing the teasing. 
He glanced at his watch, noting that they had been down here 
for a good thirty minutes. He knew that he should get John 
back upstairs just in case Benton was screaming for him. As 
for himself, he knew that if he was needed, he would be paged. 
Students weren't given the wonderful gift of pagers though; it 
was expected that they be within earshot. Doug's desire to be 
in John battled with his need to keep John out of trouble.

"Oh, Hell," Doug muttered. "Lay down on the cot - and try 
to not knock anything over this time. No, not that way. I 
want you on your stomach."

John rolled over and let his arms dangle over the top edge of 
the cot as he felt Doug lightly run his hands up his legs, 
caressing and massaging each and every inch of skin he could 
reach. Then Doug pushed his legs apart, spreading them wide 
and placing his body between them and placing quick kisses in 
the small of John's back. John moaned loudly, knowing what 
would be next. Despite the frequency of their sexual 
encounters, John was still amazed at how much he enjoyed the 
things that Doug did to him and for him. All of a sudden, John 
felt cold air where Doug's warm mouth had just been and he 
heard Doug curse vividly under his breath.

"What's wrong?" John rolled over to his side to see that Doug 
was frantically going through the pockets of his pants.

"I think we used up all the condoms. I remember putting two 
of them in my pocket, but I usually keep one in my wallet. 
Damn it all! It's gone." Doug slammed his pants and wallet 
to the floor, his frustration clear upon his face.

"I think you used that one the last time you were at my place. 
We ran out."

"Damn." Doug ran a hand through his hair, trying to think 
about what to do. He could just insist that they get dressed 
and get back to work - which would be the sensible thing. 
After all, he was the one who made the rule about always using 
condoms and it wouldn't be right if he bent the rules just 
because he wanted John, would it? But, he was so damn hard 
for John and John was laying there, looking so ripe for the 
taking, his own arousal for Doug very evident. With the way 
their schedules had been lately, there was no telling when 
they would be able to get together again. Making a sound 
that was something between a growl and a moan, Doug pushed 
John back onto his stomach and resumed his place between his 
legs, using his own spit as a lubricant.

John was pleasantly surprised that Doug had decided to have 
sex without a condom. He wondered why Doug had changed his 
mind, but he wasn't going to risk asking him about it. He 
didn't want to give Doug any reason to have second thoughts 
about what they were doing.

They moved together, their want and need for each other 
erasing their fear of being discovered. Later, when they had 
returned upstairs and John discovered that Benton was taking 
a nap somewhere, he mused that he and Doug could have probably 
slowed things down quite a bit and still not be found out. 
He decided that the next time they visited the storeroom 
they would make sure they could take their time.

They did have some serious moments. When, one evening, Doug 
discovered a footprint on a child's back, then angrily attacked 
the child's father, John silently applauded him. Doug injured 
his own hand in the process, and he remained silent while John 
patched it up. Noting how agitated Doug remained, John 
insisted on driving him home.

They sat quietly on his couch for some time, John waiting for 
Doug to talk. Finally, he said, "I have a son. Somewhere."

John had no patience for deadbeat fathers. He hoped Doug 
wasn't one. "How old is he?"

"Eight. His mother put him up for adoption. We were in 
school, me in med school and her in law school...neither of 
us wanted the responsibility, and we weren't kidding 
ourselves that we loved each other. I didn't give it a lot 
of thought at the time, but now...when I see a kid who's been 
kicked, burned with a cigarette butt, with a broken arm...I 
wonder what kind of home my kid's growing up in." He sighed.

John had a flash of understanding for Doug's zero-tolerance 
policy of abusers, his haste to call in Social Services when 
abuse was suspected. "You can't let yourself think that. 
It'll..." he gestured with his hands, "It'll tear you apart. 
You've just got to trust that there's another guy out there 
looking out for your son, the way you look out for the kids 
who come through County. I mean that."

"No one else knows," Doug said quietly. "Just Mark, Carol...
probably Susan, I guess." He looked over at John and smiled. 
"You know, Susan -- your ex."

"Hey, she wants me, I know it." John played along with the 
joke, relieved that Doug seemed to be coming to terms with 
the day. "Look at it this way, Doug. You wouldn't want 
the kid growing up with a dad who doesn't even have a decent 
jump shot."

"You're going to eat those words, John Carter." Doug leaped 
up and ran over to John's hall closet. He grabbed the 
basketball inside, then held the door of the apartment open. 

"Loser buys dinner," John said, looking around for his shoes.

"Okay, so hurry up, loser. I'm hungry." Doug smiled, grateful 
to John for listening, but eager to put the thoughts out of 
his mind.

Diane turned out to be just a little too much for him. She 
took his time away from John, of course, which he didn't like 
much, but then she started making noises about Doug moving 
in with her. He enjoyed being with her, sure, and spending 
time with her son, but he didn't want to be with her full-time. 
His familiar flight response had been triggered, and he was 
looking for a way out. Linda Farrell proved to be a godsend. 
He knew it was taking the coward's way out, but he let Diane 
catch them together. He got to be the schmuck, a familiar 
role, and Linda the slut - again, a role she didn't mind. 

Most importantly, it left John out of the mix. He had 
started assuring Doug that he didn't mind people finding out 
about them, but Doug didn't want that to happen. Not that he 
didn't enjoy being with John, and more than he was willing to 
admit even to himself, but it wasn't a relationship he wanted 
to take public. They were spending less time together, 
anyway, with John's sub-I problems, and with his own 
apprehensions over Carol's quickly approaching wedding. 

For John, the sub-I competition was all consuming, and he was 
devastated when his application was rejected. He realized 
that he would have to find another program to work in and with 
this in mind, he and Doug put a halt to their relationship. 
They moved back into their easy, teasing public friendship, 
and remained determinedly casual. 

On his last day at work, John found out that he received the 
sub-I after all, he was too elated to think of anything other 
than the success of his job. He never had the opportunity to 
let Doug know that he would be returning to County. With 
relief, he said his goodbyes to his co-workers and left happy, 
knowing he would be back in a few months.

The End