#reset time

Hey Nonny!

I once had a really angsty, dark AU planned around something like this. It was going to be a darker, not as nice Ethan. Kaycee would have found out she wasn't the first intern he was involved with; in fact, there were quite a few. He tended to fall for the smartest in each class, especially if they were kind of cute too. He would always let them go after they completed their residency.

Kaycee would find out and confront him, and he'd swear that while he had a relationship or two in the past, it never was what they had. One day, a ravishing, a polished doctor would come by Edenbrook to visit. Everyone would be making a fuss over her, and when Ethan walked down the hall, her eyes would light up. "Dr. Ethan Ramsey!" She'd beam. "It has been entirely too long!" Ethan would grin and give her a hug and say, "Rookie! It certainly has been."

OUCH. Right? lol I was doing to do this about a year and a half ago. The fandom was still more active, and I figured the lunatic fringe of the Ethan stans who were tormenting me would have gone over the edge. lol

Sorry for the long detour 🤣🤣 But your ask reminded me of that.

Now, back to your question.

Kaycee would not be happy. It's more unique than "babe", "sweetie," or standard pet names that we all expect others have been called in the past. She really took him calling her Rookie to mean she was something special, even before they had a romantic interest in each other. If she saw there were others before... and certainly after... it would make it feel less special - and it was special in their HC.

If it was during the reset era, she'd probably confront him... and she wouldn't be as cool and levelheaded as Kaycee usually is. It would sting, and at that point, she is still of the belief that they are meant to be. Something like that would likely shake her. She'd begin to question if they really were special. Depending on how Ethan handled it (and let's face it, it's Ethan...) that could have led to them being done.

If it happened after they were together, she'd probably raise an eyebrow and look at him: "Rookie?" She wouldn't be pissed, by then, she'd know who they are and what they have, but it would still sting a little bit.

//@superquantumunitintell-processor @damianisqueerandhere @princiephillip @miss-r-george @gretch-is-fetch88 @yougottabejockingme and anyone else

I think if MC would have gone that route, that would have been the end of them. Even if he had feelings, he wouldn't have acted on them.

At that point, part of it would have been pride, and he probably would have thought MC really didn't want him (which may have even been true??). Between all his initial reasons for not wanting to pursue anything with MC and then that, it would have been done.

In a way, I have this scenario in my T/C world. Ethan came back and said, "Reset," and Casey said, "You left without telling me. You didn't even have the decency to return one of my calls or texts... reset? There is nothing to reset. We've been done." She never looked back.

I HC that things were very professional and cool between them after, but deep down, Ethan second-guessed his choices all the time. Eventually, their relationship thawed, but they weren't close initially, and it killed him to see her dating others - you can just imagine his reaction when one of those others ended up being Tobias lol.

But the bottom line was Casey moved on... and even though he had second thoughts, he never attempted to stop her.

Thanks for the ask, Nonny!