Author's Note: The time frame is post season 5.

Jack Donaghy was feeling extremely impatient. It had been nearly two hours since he had arrived at the office. Most everything was in order—the phone calls, the performance reports, the imported flowers, the morning scotch. This routine was comfortable, familiar. There was something missing, though, and it took him a second to put his finger on it.

Where was Lemon?

Today was the first day that the cast and crew of TGS was contractually obligated to return to 30 Rock after the summer hiatus. Now it was mid-morning, and that meant that Liz should have been barging into his office with some trite problem or complaint ages ago. He frowned and stared at the heavy oak doors, willing them to open, but the handles remained still.

Between getting caught up in his time with Liddy and visiting his mother (yes, really), he had not seen Liz in months. The last time he saw Lemon, she was donning a felon's jumpsuit and picking up trash in the park. He smiled at the memory, but his face fell when he realized that he'd never heard from her after that encounter. He felt somewhat bad for not even calling to check in over the summer, but then again, she hadn't called either. After a minute of contemplation, Jack decided that he would pay a visit to the TGS floor.

"Jonathan, don't hold my calls."

"Um, okay, sir…Where are you going?"

He gestured vaguely to his annoying assistant, heading towards the elevator. Jack hoped that nothing was actually wrong with Liz and that she was just running late or busy fixing some actor issue. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Jack swept into the writer's room, and halted in his tracks. This was due to the fact that a very unusual scene was occurring—for once, everyone was actually working. The writers barely glanced up as he walked in the room, their heads bent over notepads and laptops. Only Cerie offered him a cool 'hey' before returning to her texting. When Jack realized there would be no usual onslaught of crazy requests from the writers, he continued towards Liz's closed office door.

Upon hearing what seemed like a phone conversation, he hesitated outside, not wanting to interrupt. The conversation was muffled, but he was able to make out Liz's side of the call here and there.

"…deadline for the Dealbreakers sequel is entirely unreasonable…Yes, still working full time at NBC…I could care less!…I hardly think that counts as an advance…Fine, have her call me back!"

He heard the phone slam in its cradle, noticing that any type of parting word was left unsaid. He knocked on the door tentatively. What he had heard of the conversation seemed like Liz was having issues with her editor, and he didn't want to intrude at a bad time.

"Come in," came the not entirely welcoming reply.

Jack opened the door, raising his eyebrows in surprise. For one thing, the office was drastically different. The décor was new; the old couch was replaced by a new black one and it had pillows in shades of gray and beige. A stylish mahogany desk stood in place of the rickety old one. The paintings of food, hanging oversized eating utensils, and quirky photographs were missing. All that remained of the room when he last saw it was the old TGS wall piece. Otherwise, the overall feeling of the room was different…impersonal. It was the office of a busy executive. Not the office of Liz Lemon, to say the least.

He observed these changes, but sucked in a breath at an even more alarming presence in the room. Standing in front of him, facing the window with her back turned, was a woman whom he did not recognize immediately. She stood tall in expensive black stilettos with red soles, and she wore a tailored black suit, the knee-length skirt tastefully hugging her ass. Finally, though her dark hair was in a smooth French twist, he could still make out shades of rich brown highlights. Suddenly, she spun with her hands on her hips, facing Jack with a slightly irritated look in her eyes.

"What do you want, Jack?" Liz demanded. To mask his surprise at her appearance, Jack furrowed his brow in concern instead.

"Lemon?" he replied, hesitant. "Is everything alright?" Clearly, it was not.

He didn't miss the flicker in her chestnut eyes, and he mentally noted it for later.

"Of course. I'm just in the middle of something right now," she sighed, but the steel in her face didn't relax.

"I hadn't heard from you all summer, and figured you were planning to unload during a therapeutic visit to my office this morning," Jack said lightly, inviting an explanation of her absence. "I was looking forward to a recap."

At this, her eyes narrowed, and he noticed that she'd opted not to wear her typical nerdy glasses.

Cocking her head, Liz replied, "I apologize for not calling you the very second that I arrived this morning. I wasn't aware that my every move was your own personal business."

Well, that wasn't the answer he'd been expecting. He paused, mulling over the shock of this new, sarcastic Liz. The woman in front of him was arrogant, distant. He watched as she eyed him, waiting for a response, and he felt like he was being x-rayed. His tie felt crooked all of a sudden. He wasn't sure if he remembered to get his bi-weekly haircut.

Jack didn't yet know what was really going on, and he did not like feeling uncertain. So he hadn't called her all summer—is that why she was behaving like an ice queen towards him? At any rate, the man in him appreciated this newly put-together, if unfriendly, Liz. He noticed that she was thinner; still curvy, but toned. Lemon working out? What had happened to her over the summer that made her this way? Now he felt truly terrible for not checking in.

"Perhaps not, but it's my business to make sure you're okay, Lemon. Obviously something happened to you during the break. Why don't we talk about it?" he prodded.

Liz cleared her throat and her fingers fluttered to her chest. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as if the hard mask was going to soften. Instead, she fingered the lapel of her suit, smoothing an invisible crease.

When her face reappeared, it was staring at him coldly. "My parents died in July," she stated. "In a crash. Are you happy now?"