concordia

thirty three

word count: 1.2k

date written: 19.5.20

verse: canon divergence

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she wrinkled her nose at the state of the sofa, covered with creased blankets and what was undoubtedly animal hair. "i see he's had that dog in here again," connie muttered, making a mental note to have it deep-cleaned at least twice before she next sat down. elle grimaced. 

"if it's any consolation, i did tell him not to," she revealed, glancing over at the evidence that had been left behind. "but then he started comparing it to me bringing the boys into work and i realized it was a waste of time." connie rolled her eyes, turning away as she wandered behind her desk. 

"like trying to reason with a gopher," she remarked absently, preoccupied with silently mourning the loss of her once pristine workspace. it was coated in crumbs and screwed up balls of paper, and there were even careless coffee stains on official hospital documents. she couldn't help feeling angry. each time she'd returned after elle had covered her absence, she'd found her office exactly as she'd left it. the filing cabinet had still been in alphabetical order, the draws had still been neat and organized, and her desk had still been free of clutter. while elle had always made an effort to take care of the place, however, dylan appeared to have been using it as his own personal bachelor pad. 

connie forced herself to look away from the mess, turning back to elle. "please tell me the department isn't in this much disarray," she implored despite already knowing that she wouldn't receive the response she wanted. elle hesitated, unsure of what to say, but her silence was a telling enough answer for connie. she sighed. "wonderful..." 

"i'm sorry," elle said, shoulders falling in defeat. she couldn't feeling as though she'd let her down. "i kept trying to help him, but-" 

"no, i know," connie assured her gently before she could put herself down any further. "and i'm grateful, truly, i just... wish you would've let me leave you in charge." she'd been reluctant to give dylan the position, even at elle's suggestion, for while he didn't have as terrible a track record as ethan, he was still far from perfect for the role. 

"me too," elle admitted, equally as disheartened. hindsight was a bitch. before either of them could say anything further, they were the distracted by the office door opening. the two turned in unison to see who had interrupted them unannounced, and connie immediately stood up straighter when dylan stepped into the room. he paused as soon as he noticed them, no choice but to stay by the door as he slowly closed it behind himself. 

"well this is certainly a surprise," he deadpanned, sounding anything but. elle quirked an eyebrow, unamused by the statement. then again, she doubted it was intended to be funny. 

"is it?" connie asked, eyeing dylan with a faint frown. "you knew i was coming back today." 

"that doesn't mean you should be in here," he told her, almost sounding irritated, and elle matched connie's expression as they both stared at him in bewilderment. connie opened her mouth to respond, but elle beat her to it. 

"it's her office," she reminded him firmly, folding her arms. not even when she'd been the one in charge, and her name had been stamped on the door, had that changed in her mind. why it had in dylan's was beyond her. 

"was her office," he corrected curtly, already bored with the discussion. elle's jaw tightened involuntarily at his unwarranted impertinence. 

"no, is," she countered impatiently, narrowing her eyes. "she's officially been reappointed." her words were stepped in finality, and there was nothing left to contend with, but dylan refused to acquiesce so easily. 

"well i hope you have proof of that," he scoffed, and elle found the response so absurd that she briefly thought she'd misheard him.

"proof?!" she echoed slightly louder than intended. not only had she been over the paperwork herself and attended all the meetings, she'd circled the date of connie's first day on her damn calendar. she didn't need proof. "why don't you check your emails for once, dylan?" 

"i have, thank you," dylan averred, glowering slightly at her disparaging tone. "and there was nothing there about being usurped by a notorious malefactor." connie immediately recoiled at the remark, looking away as her face darkened slightly with shame. 

"what is your problem?" elle snapped in her defense, fixing him with a glare that would've killed if only looks could. she couldn't tell if he was just being difficult, as men so often were, or if the power of clinical lead had gone to his head. either way, he needed a reality check. "you knew this was only a temporary arrangement and you weren't even her first choice for the position!" 

"let me guess," dylan sneered bitterly. "that would be you. her prized personal lackey." elle immediately bristled, rightfully affronted, and curled her hands painfully tight as she moved closer to him. worried she might punch him, connie stopped her before she had the chance, grabbing her by the wrist and silently urging her to stay put. the last thing she wanted was for elle to be reprimanded on her behalf. god knows dylan wasn't anywhere close to worth it. he smirked triumphantly, folding his arms. "well if you were such a shoo in for the job, why didn't you take it?" 

"because unlike the rest of you, i actually give a damn about connie," elle retorted without forethought, "and i wanted to focus on helping her get better!" connie unconsciously released elle's wrist at the answer, staring at her in surprise. when she'd turned down the role of acting clinical lead, her reason had been wanting to spend more time with her sons. not the one she'd just given dylan. 

elle shook her head in chagrin, stepping forward as her anger already started to dissipate. "face it, dylan. you haven't got a leg to stand on," she pointed out flatly, unwilling to deal with him being even more obtuse and uncooperative than usual. "so i suggest you leave. otherwise i'll have no choice but to call security and let them personally escort you instead." the room fell into silence as they stared acrimoniously at one another, waiting until dylan made his next move. elle watched intently when he finally reached behind himself for the door handle.

"don't get too comfortable," he advised darkly, looking between the two of them before he turned and left. elle released a sigh no sooner had the door closed, letting her shoulders fall as her leftover outrage ultimately disappeared with dylan. she had no doubt that he planned to ambush hanssen at the earliest opportunity and hound him about why he deserved to be clinical lead, but she was confident it wouldn't have the affect he desired. 

elle tensed when she heard movement behind her, suddenly remembering connie was there, and immediately turned to apologize profusely for her outburst. "connie, i-" 

she was swiftly cut off, silenced by the press of connie's lips as she kissed her without a word of warning. despite being caught completely off-guard, however, elle was quick to reciprocate with the same fervent desire she'd always wanted to, pulling connie flush against her and barely leaving a whisper of space between them. it was connie who pulled away too soon after, although she didn't go far, breath tickling elle's lips as she cradled her face in her hands. "shut up, elle," she whispered with a wistful smile before eagerly leaning in to kiss her again.