He has no real idea of what he's doing of what in the hell he's doing in their relationship. He's always been able to think on his feet, see the moves five, ten steps early – and use that to find the right (or deliberately wrong) pattern to get him exactly what he wants.

Being caught between them he can barely see his feet – he's lost them somewhere in the haze. Every time he's with the two of them he spends the first few minutes trying to convince himself that he hasn't stumbled onto the set of some amateur porn film.

He's careful not to get too comfortable though – he's kept the kids away (something he's certain Denise is grateful for) because he doesn't want them to get too used to something that's likely going to change shortly – just as soon as Denise and Drew come to their senses and realize having an old man linger around just isn't as hot as it used to be.

He stares at the folder that's been tossed on his desk, not looking at the woman standing in front of him – gloating. For a split second he's got a bit of empathy with what Dinah goes through every day when he gets the odd feeling he's shrinking just like Alice trapped in Wonderland.

Except he's not shrinking, and this is unfortunately real.

He reaches out to touch the folder slowly – as wary of it as if it were covered in used razorblades covered with HIV, Hep C and syphillis –

"What's the trick," He asks hoarsely, eyes finally connecting with Jordan's. She's smirking; her eyes wide and mischievous – a look he used to love about her, before he learned to hate it, then love it again –

Now he's stuck somewhere in between – until he opens the folder.

Then it's hate all the way.

"I'm not giving you full custody of the kids. They're my kids –"

"That you hardly ever see – don't make this into a big drama, Sophie."

"I never see them because you hide out with your mother who has that restraining order against me."

"If you really wanted to see them you'd find a way – but I guess that'd get in the way of you screwing your little protégés."

His heart stutters and stops for agonizing seconds.

"Sign the papers, Perry – I don't want to have to drag out all your dirty laundry in court, but I will."

"…let me think about it."

"Fine, you've got until the end of the week to let me know."

She leans forward, placing her hands down on the desk – giving him a full view of her cleavage.

"You know – I have no idea what they see in you… besides an easy 'A'. You're old enough to be their father – and let's face it, stamina never has been your strong suit, even when you were that age—" She reaches out and runs her fingers through his hair, thrusting her breasts in his face like one of their old games. "Look, it's gotten so gray—"

He jerks out of her grasp and stands, throwing on his lab coat and moving towards the door.

"I'll see you in a week," He manages to get out before dramatically exiting his office – and locking himself in the nearest supply closet.

He doesn't cry – he's burned out his tear ducts long ago and oh yeah he's a guy –

She's just screwing with him – it's the same old story every time – only now she's got Jack and Jenny to use against him – and has left him powerless.

Worse still he's handed her the keys to his own destruction – although how she found out about Drew and Denise when they'd been so careful –

She's fucking inhuman, he remembers, and her supernatural abilities should never have been underestimated.

It has to stop.

***/***/***

He's been ignoring their texts, and dodging into patient rooms any time they pass in the hall –

He doesn't just get to walk out of… whatever it is they have without a word – they're not just some fun diversion that he gets to discard when he gets bored.

Even more irritating is that she's actually concerned for him – he's not acting like himself…

She throws the door of his office open and enters –

His eyes never leave the paperwork spread out on his desk.

She slams the door loudly – which finally gets his attention.

"Mahoney…" He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose and looking like her elementary school principal every time she got sent to his office for fighting.

"Where have you been – and don't feed me that bullshit about being busy – I work here too you know, and I know exactly how busy you are."

"You're not my wife," He grumbles, not even looking at her. "I don't have to tell you what I'm doing."

That, that pisses her off.

"Glad to see you don't put me in the same class as your ex-wife."

"You're welcome."

"So do we get an explanation for your sudden disappearance?"

"It's over, that's all. I've moved on."

"You can't just leave us," She snaps, old anger erupting violently inside her and slipping through her grasp. "You can't just walk away from us... we're not a couple of blow up dolls you can mop up and toss in the back of the closet when you're done."

"You mean walk away from you, Denise? Because I sure as hell don't see Suffin in here demanding that I stay—" He looks at her coldly – looks at her like she's some stupid little girl – and she hates how it makes her feel like a little girl. "And if anyone should be complaining about being used as a sex toy, it's me. You used to go for fatties, now father figures – who the hell knows what you'll be into next week. Go find someone else to play out your daddy issues with so you can ignore whatever the hell is wrong with your other relationships."

She has no words to say to that – and so for the first time in her life she retreats from the fight.

This is why she doesn't trust anyone – they only wind up using it against you in the end.

***/***/***

He's had just about enough of these shenanigans.

It started when Perry began avoiding them – missing their usual Monday hockey, pizza and sex date.

Whatever's eating at him has sunk it's teeth into Denise a few days later – she's in a foul mood and punishing every intern who so much as a looks at her – and, she informs him that he'll be staying in his dorm as she hands him back the toothbrush he keeps at her place.

He's tempted to say she's PMSing except that A) PMS is no joking matter and he certainly wouldn't like his dick to bleed and cramp once a month, B) She'd kill him if she knew he even thought it, especially if she was PMSing, and C) It sounds waaaay too much like Cole.

Honestly, he… cares for the both of them – he's much too old for 'love' – and really what they had was a sort of balance to their relationship that was rare in traditional two person romances –

On the rare occasion when Denise actually wants to talk about – whatever it is they have – she describes it in mathematical terms – he doesn't really get why she gets off on math but whatever floats her boat honestly –

She talks about them as triangles –

He would have said a trefoil knot – three points interconnected by a series of loops...

They each have their own damages – he's probably the most well-adjusted out of the three, which is an odd feeling. They're a support system for one another – there is always someone in their trio who has been through the exact same crisis and knows – if not how to handle the situation, then how not to handle it at least.

Sometimes he was scared at how close Perry and Denise had become – there was an understanding between the two of them at some deep level that he couldn't reach either of them. He'd been afraid that they'd push him out –

Except, he'd realized after the two of them spent three long frustrating wonderful hours tag teaming him is that they like to feel normal -

Of course trefoil knots have the property of being unbreakable; their relationship seems to be coming apart at the edges—

Or perhaps someone is just tugging on it, he wonders as he walks into the men's room – and finds Perry in there washing up.

"Number One… if you don't have any bed pans to scrub, I can ta-ho-hotally hook you up. That is what the kids are saying nowadays, isn't it?"

"Somethin' like that… So what's crawled up your ass and died?"

"When did whatever we were doing become a relationship," Perry snaps. "I didn't sign on for a relationship—"

They're interrupted by a Psycho ring tone coming from Perry's cell phone. The way Perry's face goes white as he quickly fumbles to pull it out of his pocket –

Well, there's only one person that could be. He's never had this misfortune of meeting her, but he's heard the stories, seen a few of the physical scars she's left behind on some of the older docs in the locker room.

He's not going to let her fuck up this relationship – one of them has to stand up and fight for this, and he guesses it's going to have to be him this time.

"Let me guess, your dad was an alkie," He says casually, moving to lock the bathroom door. He can see Perry stiffen – his face paling then flushing high on his cheeks – he watches that wicked talented mouth opening to deliver what is undoubtedly an epically blistering rant. "Nuh-uh, I'm talking right now – and you're going to concede that my time in prison has given me the authority on the subject of men with abusive childhoods."

Faking the calm collected confidence that he does not have, he leans back against the door and crosses his arms over his chest.

"I'm guessing he beat the shit out of you and your mom. What always struck me about those guys in prison was that no matter how much they hated what their dads did to their mothers – they all wound up in prison repeating their past – beating their girlfriends, their kids, the dog..."

Perry's looking at him unconvinced, guarded, and more than a little irritated – He'd better make this quick or schedule an appointment with his dentist.

…He may need to schedule that appointment with his dentist anyway when this is over.

"You though, you're different – because you became your mom instead."

That finally gets Perry's attention – and results in Perry throwing him up against the wall and crushing his windpipe with his choke hold.

"Oh Number One, you just took a big number two on your career –"

"I'm right, and you know it," He gasps out. "You'll never hit someone who hasn't hit you first, despite all your talk. You didn't become the abuser – you married her instead. What kind of example are you setting for your kids, letting her do this to you? You think that if you let her beat on you she's going to leave the kids alone when their old enough to understand and talk back? Face it, you're just like your mother."

He closes his eyes, wincing in preparation the blow that will be landing shortly –

He stumbles in surprise when Perry drops him to the ground and takes a step away from him.

"You don't get it," Perry says softly, his face quietly devastated – the trembling surface to the raging tempest below, "I haven't seen them in over two months because she insists on camping out with her mother who just so happens to have a rather inconvenient restraining order against me. She knows about you two – She's going to take the kids away forever if I don't play along."

"Why didn't you say anything – Denise or I could've gone to pick them up—"

"She'd just use it against me – besides Mahoney hates kids and it's not your problem."

God, they'd all walked into this stupid threesome blind, hadn't they? If they ever get past Perry's dragon-bitch-whore ex-wife, they're going to have to sit down and have a long talk about whatever it is they have that's clearly not 'just sex' anymore.

"What proof does she have?"

"She knows, that's enough."

"If she doesn't have proof, then it's our word against hers. Three against one. The judge is just going to hear an angry ex-wife doing everything she can to fuck with her ex-husband."

"She might have proof – she's the antichrist you know," Perry says bitterly, but Drew's pretty sure what he's saying is sinking in.

"Did she show you anything?"

"No."

"She doesn't have anything. She's guessing… or heard the shitty rumors that have been going around since you made Denise your TA. You can beat her at this – if you're willing to fight her."

***/***/***

He left Perry in the bathroom to think over what he said, because he honestly didn't have anything else to say that wasn't some cheesy bullshit that would've ruined what he was going for. Besides, he still needed to patch things up with Denise – and he'd gotten her to let him back into her room, not for the whole night, but that'd be soon –

He hears through the grapevine that the former Mrs. Cox is in the building (although maybe she kept her maiden name, so it's probably best to just keep referring to her as Perry's ex-wife) – and if he's desperately finding excuses to be near Perry's office, well, there's just nothing to be done.

"Don't you have IVs to change," Denise drawls in his ear, but her eyes are glued on Perry's office door, "I could've filled out that form in triplicate by now."

"Well, my fingers just keep slipping," He mutters, making a long slash across the order form for a basic blood panel to be run. "Better not let me around patients."

"Probably for the best…" Denise mutters. "She's in there, isn't she?"

There's no need to ask who 'she' is.

"Yep."

"Explains the bug up his ass," Denise mutters not unkindly.

Perry's going to owe her a huge apology that will undoubtedly be interesting to watch…

The door bursts open and they go silent in anticipation for the theatre about to start.

"I'm going to make you regret this," Jordan hisses, coming out of Perry's office looking about as pleased as a cat being forced to learn how to snow-swim.

"Out of my hospital, demon woman, you're not supposed to be within a hundred feet of me," Perry says smugly, leaning against the door frame. "By the power of the state of California, get thee behind me Satan."

Jordan snarls loudly, but departs swiftly. They both pretend to studiously examine the patient charts in front of them as Jordan passes by them, ignoring the glances burning through their lab coats –

He grabs Denise's hand impulsively, not letting her pull away –

"It's going to be worth it."

"…be less of a girl, Drew… and go change those IVs," Denise grumbles, pulling her hand back.

He curses himself when he sees her slip inside Perry's office and hears the familiar snick of the door lock.

They both owe him.