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rednightmar3 · 8 months ago

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HALLOWEEN (PT 1)

a sluff fic

SLASH- I admired myself in the mirror, silently thanking my mom for my ass. Damn, I was sexy tonight. I had already worn this a few months ago, but this time was special. I was dressed to impress, and impress I would. Maybe my scrawny freshman ass would be made fun of, but fuck it, I was gonna have fun tonight.

DUFF- I plucked through my closet, searching for the final piece to my costume. I needed the gloves I had bought around a week ago, elbow high white silk gloves. I’m not entirely sure what I was being, but it included a sparkly pink tutu, a plain white shirt, fishnets, and a tiara. I hoped Slash would be there, he said he would, after all. I wondered what he was gonna show up as…

Slash stepped out of his car, walking a block to Axl’s house. He was throwing a Halloween party, and nearly everyone was invited. As he rounded the corner, he could already tell which house it was. He stepped up to the driveway, already absorbing the vibe. You could feel the bass under your feet, lights were flashing in every window, you could hear yelling from the backyard, and the whole premises reeked of booze and weed. Just his kind of atmosphere. Before even going up to the door, he glanced around for quick exits if the cops were called. He doubted that would happen, as this neighborhood was known as “Party Central” at school.

He staggered up the driveway, wobbling on the heels he borrowed, and flung open the door. He was welcomed by Izzy throwing himself onto Slash, shaking his shoulders vigorously. “It’s about time you got here! Food just arrived, fuckin’ knock yourself out.” Slash took in Izzy’s costume. He had a little wire halo above his head, cotton balls glued around it. He had fake angel wings on his back, and just a white shirt and black jeans on. “Axl’s the devil,” he gestured over to the living room, where Axl had little devil horns on and had four girls sitting around him and two other guys, all playing spin the bottle.

Slash chatted with Izzy for a minute, but then soon worked his way deeper into the party. His original assumption was correct: people did stare. But not in the way he thought they would.

“Who’s that?”

“Damn, she’s hot!”

“She looks so familiar I just can’t remember from where…”

Slash held back a grin, walking confidently over to the drinks. He snagged a beer from the watery cooler, and moved to meander around the house. He had practiced his woman voice, finding the perfect octave before he even left, so he was set for conversation.

Slash maneuvered around the house, striking up conversation with people he recognized from school. He passed Steven, flirting with a chick from school he knew very well. She had been hanging around their group a lot recently, Slash could barely remember her name. He thought it was Ariana? Amelia? He couldn’t remember.

He stopped by to say hi, immediately recognizing how fucked up both of them were. “Hey Stevie, where’s the good shit?” He needed to get straight to the point, he needed to get as fucked up as quickly as possible. He gestured over to a few people passing around a bottle of vodka, and Slash thanked him before turning to the group. The chick, Adeline? Stopped him though. “Hey honey, what’s your name?”

Slash hesitated, he was still using his girl voice with Steven so maybe she was addressing him like a woman. “Shirley, what about you?” She glanced over at Steven before replying, “I’m Adriana, but everyone just calls me Adrie,” she dropped her voice to a whisper, looking in Axl’s direction over in the living room, “But Axl calls me rocket queen.” Slash looked over with her, and felt her tug on his arm. “Anyways, I gotta get back to my boyfriend, Stevie, but have fun, girlfriend!”

Slash said goodbye, wandering over to the group with the vodka. He made sure to alter his posture to better display his ass and tits, before tapping on a girl’s shoulder. “Hey, where’d you get the vodka?” She glanced over at the guy currently holding the half finished bottle before jerking her thumb over to a door by the fridge. “Top shelf, pantry. There’s like a bottle left so you might wanna hurry.” Slash needed no hesitation before rushing to the pantry and flinging open the door. There were already three people in there, all trying to reach the vodka. It was really wedged up there, and Slash had an amazing idea.

“Move it, losers!” He shoved his way through the people, reaching the shelves. They were built into the wall, he knew they wouldn’t fall on him if he scaled them. Which he was planning to do.

He peeled off his heels, setting them on a shelf closer to the floor and planted one foot on a shelf. He ignored the people behind him complaining, and reached up to grab a higher shelf. He pulled himself up, keeping his body close to the shelves as he steadied his feet. He carefully stepped up another shelf, gripping on with his hands for dear life.

The bottle was at eye level now, and he slowly released one of his hands to set the vodka on a shelf slightly lower. He kicked a guy trying to take it now that it was within reach, and carefully climbed back down, vodka proudly in hand. He slid on his heels, and sauntered out of the pantry with the three guys following him closely from behind.

“Come on, we had dibs on it first!”

“Don’t be a bitch, just share it with us!”

Slash rolled his eyes, finding a spot slightly hidden from everyone else, and chugged nearly a third of the bottle, grinning madly as he felt his throat burn. He took light sips, observing the party around him. Still no sign of Duff. He saw Axl trying to get Izzy to join spin-the-bottle-seven-minutes-in-heaven, but Izzy declined.

After the bottle was about half finished, Slash tried to find the dudes who he stole from, and came across them sitting on the stairs taking turns passing a beer around. He overheard their conversation before approaching them, hesitating slightly.

“Dude, all the fuckin’ beer is gone, there’s nothing left! And after that bitch stole the vodka, we legit have nothin’. If I see her, I’m gonna beat her ass!” Slash wandered over to them, holding out the vodka. “Hey, here you go. I’m done with it.”

The guy with a lameass excuse for a beard snagged it from him immediately, his jaw dropping as he felt the weight. “You… you drank all of this?” Slash nodded proudly, and the dudes just looked away and passed it between themselves. Slash walked away, being free from extra weight to carry around.

He wandered around for a little while longer, a few guys grabbing his ass before he turned around and gave em’ a good ol’ man voice that scared them off. Sure, his voice was already feminine, but his normal voice combined with lookin’ like a chick? Instant fear.

He moved from the kitchen to the living room, and took an empty seat on a loveseat by the spin the bottle people. He spent a while observing, picking at his red painted nails and adjusting his dress boredly. Axl turned to Slash after about three rounds and beckoned him to join. Slash jumped up, taking a seat next to a chick with huge tits.

“Alrighty, this is my friend, Shirley. She doesn’t go to our school, she’s homeschooled and she just moved here,” Axl introduced Slash, a huge grin stretched across his face, Slash being thankful that Axl was playing along. This was going to be a lot more fun if the people that knew about his costume were acting like he was a chick. Slash waved to everyone, giving a short introduction himself before Axl began the game. They played two rounds, Slash being up next when he heard the front door open for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. He didn’t even bother to look up, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a sparkly pink tutu and fishnets. He immediately knew it was, based on the beads on the converse.

Duff sat down across from Slash, turning to Axl. He glanced at Slash, then did a double take. His jaw dropped slightly, looking Slash up and down. Slash just smirked slightly, taking the bottle and giving it a good whirl. It slowed around the dude sitting next to Duff, before Axl kicked it slightly and pointed it towards the pretty princess sitting across from Slash. Slash stood up, beckoning Duff to stand up. Duff stood, following Slash to whatever closet this fucked up game of spin-the-bottle-seven-minutes-in-heaven was going on in, and shut the door behind him.

#sluff #guns n roses #slash #slash gnr #duff mckagan #gnr #redwrites #rednightmar3

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tummy-troubles-tourney · 2 years ago

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INTRODUCING THE COMPETITORS OF THE TUMMY TROUBLES TOURNAMENT!

The Round 1 Matchups are below the cut! The first half are scheduled to go live at 8:00 PM PST! Hold on to your barf bags and let's do this thing!

ROUND 1A MATCHUPS:

Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods) vs Shin Tsukimi (Your Turn to Die)

Okuyasu Nijimura (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Diamond is Unbreakable) vs Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Lev Haiba (Haikyuu!!) vs Tadashi Yamaguchi (Haikyuu!!)

Tooru Oikawa (Haikyuu!!) vs Knov (Hunter x Hunter)

Squidward Tentacles (SpongeBob SquarePants) vs Light Yagami (Death Note)

Tomura Shigaraki (My Hero Academia) vs Petey Piranha (Super Mario Sunshine)

Nico di Angelo (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) vs Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)

Luz Noceda (The Owl House) vs Dr. Gregory House (House, M.D.)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) vs Michael Afton (Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location)

Lord Jabu-Jabu (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) vs Raji Shenazard (Snow White with the Red Hair)

Guzma (Pokémon Sun/Moon) vs Aubrey Posen (Pitch Perfect)

Alciel (The Devil is a Part-Timer) vs Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)

SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob SquarePants) vs L Lawliet (Death Note)

Jay Ferin (Just Roll With It) vs Ryouta Kawara (Hatoful Boyfriend)

Shaggy Rogers (Scooby-Doo) vs Doug Dorsey (The Cutting Edge)

Armitage Hux (Star Wars) vs Sunny (Omori)

ROUND 1B MATCHUPS:

Donatello Hamato (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) vs Philly the Kid (Cannon Busters)

Johnny Sasaki (Metal Gear) vs Tamaki Suoh (Ouran High School Host Club)

The Mystery Flesh Pit (Trevor Roberts) vs Ritsu Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100)

Yuuri Katsuki (Yuri!!! On Ice) vs Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb)

Miles Vorkosigan (The Vorkosigan Saga) vs Walter (Walter the Farting Dog)

Toshinori Yagi/All Might (My Hero Academia) vs Chest-burster Xenomorph(s) (Alien)

Roman Sanders (Sanders Sides) vs Asahi Azumane (Haikyuu!!)

Blue Zircon (Steven Universe) vs Shigeo Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100)

Barry Bluejeans (The Adventure Zone: Balance) vs Crying Child (Five Nights at Freddy’s 4)

Louie (Pikmin) vs Harrier du Bois (Disco Elysium)

Isuzu “Rin” Sohma (Fruits Basket) vs Keith Kogane (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

Kobeni Higashiyama (Chainsaw Man) vs Hitoka Yachi (Haikyuu!!)

Izumi Curtis (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs Katsuya Serizawa (Mob Psycho 100)

Chip (Just Roll With It) vs Stahl (Fire Emblem: Awakening)

Virgil Sanders (Sanders Sides) vs Kiyoomi Sakusa (Haikyuu!!)

Mycroft Holmes (BBC Sherlock) vs Arataka Reigen (Mob Psycho 100)

The following characters (listed in no particular order) are SEEDED and their first matchups will be determined by the results of ROUND 1:

Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place)

Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia)

Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail)

Henry (Thomas the Tank Engine/Thomas and Friends/The Railway Series)

Vash the Stampede (Trigun)

Izzy Hands (Our Flag Means Death)

Magellan (One Piece)

Yami Sukehiro (Black Clover)

Marta Cabrera (Knives Out)

Deandra (The Most Popular Girls in School)

Yuuga Aoyama (My Hero Academia)

Declan Lynch (The Raven Cycle/The Dreamer Trilogy)

Randy Jade (Dialtown)

Spamton G. Spamton (Deltarune)

Nekomaru Nidai (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair)

Shouyou Hinata (Haikyuu!!)

Harrowhark Nonagesimus (The Locked Tomb)

Dr. Heywood Floyd (2001: A Space Odyssey)

Scary Marlowe (Dungeons and Daddies)

Loid Forger (Spy x Family)

#tummy troubles tournament #tumblr polls #poll bracket #competition #fandom polls #fandom tournament #tumblr tournament #tummy troubles tourney #announcement post

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flkmoresluvr · 1 year ago

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Closure ( Axl & Steven one shot)

summary: Axl decides to call Steven up to make amends.

disclaimer: this is kinda terrible, I got the idea at like 3 in the morning. It’s not proofread or grammatically corrected so enjoy!!

Axl stared down at the box of polaroids that he managed to scrape up from the tour bus floor, his stomach in knots as his eyes trace the face of Steven. His arms were draped over Slash’s neck and Axl can see himself laying against Izzy in the background. His mind wandered about the time when this was taken, he flips the back for answers.

1987 written in black sharpie.

He holds onto the polaroid, his other hand running through his hair as he lets out a long sigh. 1987, although it was only a little under 6 years ago, felt like a lifetime ago. And a tiny part, oh who was he kidding, it was a big part of him that felt sorry for how he treated Steven. How he reacted, how he could’ve helped him instead of giving him the boot.

Maybe he could reach out to Steven, let him know there is no hard feelings between the two.

Then again, he knows that Steven has hard feelings for him. How could you not have hard feelings for someone who kicked you out of your band with no chances of redemption?

But Axl wanted to know how Steven felt, how he was doing and nothing was going to change his mind.

He searched and searched for his number or even an address. Only succeeding after aggravating Slash til he caved in, telling Axl that this wouldn’t end well for none of them and that this could ruin the tiny bit of friendship that he still had with Steven.

“Trust me, it will go well.” Axl assured Slash, then disappearing off to the kitchen and dialing Steven’s number.

ring . . .

“Hello?” Steven’s voice comes through clean, it was softer than he last heard and Axl’s heart is racing. Fuck. He didn’t think this far ahead.

“Is this another prank caller? I swear—”

“No, no. It’s just me.” Axl says. The line goes silent, he can still hear Steven’s breathing. “I know . . . I know this is unexpected and you probably don’t want to hear from me.”

Steven laughs. “Damn right. What do you want?” His voice is now firm.

“I’m not sure. I mean . . . I was just wondering how you’ve been doing.” He mumbles, his voice now low.

“You were just wondering how I’ve been doing? Really?” Steven repeats, almost in disbelief. “Uh, let’s see. Four of my bandmates fucked me over for shit they were doing too.”

“Look, Steven, I—”

“Goodbye, Axl.”

“Wait, Steven, just hear me out.” Axl pauses, shifting slightly so now that his back is against the wall. “I feel . . . I feel bad for how things went down. I know you won’t believe me but I’m trying here.”

Steven almost laughs until hearing the desperation in the redhead's voice and suddenly there’s this weird feeling in his chest. Almost as if he felt sorry for Axl, which was so rare for anyone to ever feel bad for him. But if you were close to him, knew his way of life, you knew that he did have good intentions with his actions.

“Uh . . . ” Steven begins saying, his fingers running through his blonde strands and gripping gently. “You’re lucky I’m in such a good mood today.”

“Thanks, Steven. Really. I expected you to hang up as soon as you heard my voice, Slash told me not to call you.” He admits, twirling the phone cord with his fingers. “But you know me . . . ”

“Well, I’m kinda glad you did call me. I’ve been wanting closure for a long time, Axl, but that died along with the numerous phone calls I left. Ya remember?” Steven asks, his voice dripping with malign.

And Axl stays silent for a moment or two. Unsure of what to say because he was speaking the truth.

Not even a week after Steven was kicked out, he called repeatedly. Blowing the phone up to the point that they had to go through a number change. Axl wasn’t even clear on why they avoided his calls, maybe it was the guilt that he didn’t want to deal with or the fact that he wasn’t ready to face the pleas from Steven.

“But I get it, Axl. Truly, I do,” Steven begins speaking into the phone again after it falls silent between the two. “I guess Izzy leaving put things into perspective for you.”

“Yeah, it did . . . I thought I was making the right decision, Steven.”

“Coulda gone about it better, gave me more time.” The blonde says, a hint of sadness to his tone. “I need an answer, Axl. Why are you doing this?”

“Because I fucked up, I know that now.” Axl admits, his voice shaky and he can feel the tears welling in his eyes. “I tried to keep the asshole agenda up but really . . . really it’s all bothering me.”

Steven nods his head even though the other can’t see. “You’re finally admitting your faults. That’s one step to becoming a better person.”

Axl smiles slightly at his words. “I’m trying. That’s why I reached back out to you. To tell you that I should’ve handled things better.”

“It makes me happy to hear that, Axl, but I can’t accept your apology.”

His smile drops, his bones feel like they're crushing, a lump forming in his throat. He was foolish to think that Steven could forgive him, considering how much of an asshole he was but he was genuinely trying to make amends.

The phone becomes shaky in his hand and Steven notices that Axl isn’t speaking. He knows that he is hurt by him not accepting his apology.

“Axl . . . ” Steven’s voice is gentle but firm. “This is the first time we’ve spoken in years, you can’t expect me to forgive you just like that.”

The redhead nods his head. “I know but, I thought . . . I don’t know. I’m just glad I got this off my chest, you know?” He tries to steady his voice.

“Yeah. I have this question, it’s itching the back of my brain.” The blonde says into the phone, pausing for a second to let his words sink. “Are you doing therapy? Or did you just have a change of heart yourself?”

Axl swallows, his hand raising up to rub his temple. “I did. I mean, yeah. Not recently but over the past couple of months, yes.” Stammering his words, he shook his head. “Are you doing anything right now?”

“Am I doing anything right now? Hmm.” Steven glances around the walls of his house. “Nope. Sitting around like I’ve always been. Is this where you invite me out for drinks?”

“No . . . no, not unless you want to. Just heard lots of sounds on your end.” He lies partially, earning a laugh from the blonde.

“Drinks, huh? Can you handle that?”

“I should be asking you that.” Axl says.

“Don’t.” Steven warns him. Then the line goes silent, other than the sounds of someone rummaging through something and he speaks again. “I’m down for drinks. You’re paying right? I mean, since you’re changing your ways.”

“Yeah, of course, I can pay.” Axl nods, his grip on the phone loosening slightly. “So . . . I’ll see you in about an hour?”

“Great. See ya.”

#axl rose #steven adler #one shot #writing #gnr #guns n roses #friends #repairing friendships #closure #making amends #90s #80s #oneshot

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nikossfwfics · 1 year ago

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Special Interest [duzzy]

My friend and I came up with a head cannon that Duff is autistic so i used that in my story. please do not hate, if i messed up while writing him please dm me and don't be mean about it. i hope you enjoy this story <3

************

Duff sat on his laptop, crisscrossed on the couch swaying left to right, as he usually did when he was exited. Izzy came up behind him and laid a strong grip on his shoulder, “Whatcha got there?” Izzy asked genuinely intrigued at what had Duff so worked up.

Duff turned around, smiled from ear to ear, and started flapping his hands. “They're opening a new aquarium in LA!” he almost shouted, not knowing how to control his volume.

“Wow! That’s great, my love,” Izzy spoke in a calm but happy tone, mentally noting to save up for it, “now what do you want for dinner?”

Duff shrugged “dunn0, what do you want?” he looked up at Izzy to see a reply. “I don't know either,”

Duff thought hard for a moment “How about Chinese?” Izzy smiled and ruffled Duff’s already messy hair, “I’ll get right on it.”

It was only them, Axl, slash, Steven, and their fish in this tiny apartment and sometimes they were barely making ends meet with the mediocre jobs they had. Duff worked a from-home desk job, while Izzy helped at a bakery downstairs. That's when the lightbulb hit him; he was getting a raise on Thursday and then he could take Duff to the aquarium on Friday night. A small smile spread across Izzy's face just thinking of duffs wide and delighted eyes.

Friday rolled around in no time and when Izzy got home he realized Duff was on the same website he was on only days before. Izzy slid his work shoes off and sat down on the couch next to his lover.

He peered over at Duff’s screen, “do you wanna go?” he asked lightheartedly.

Duff nodded vigorously, his blonde hair turning into a blur of motion, “duh!” Then Izzy reached into his coat pocket and pulled out two tickets to the aquarium. Duff stared at Izzy at a loss for words, all he could do was pull him into a tight embrace. Izzy hugged him back, smiling cheerfully.

They stood outside the aquarium, goggle-eyed. It was huge, to say the least. When Duff grabbed Izzy's hand and pulled him into the building, Izzy felt his heart flutter.

They spent most of their time in the shark exhibit. Duff named every shark and fish in the tank and Izzy responded with questions. “What's that one?” Izzy intrigued, but all he got in response was silence, “Duff?”

Izzy looked over to see Duff bent over a little kid who had a rainbow infinity symbol patch on her jacket. Izzy watched them with innocent delight, as they spewed out random shark facts. there was a pang in his stomach. Shit, he was in love. His eyes grew wide at the realization. This was his best and notably straight friend, he surely wouldn't feel the same… surely.

When Duff stood up and waved goodbye to the little girl he looked back and gave Izzy the sweetest smile. A warmth grew across Izzy’s face and it seemed to happen to Duff as well. They simultaneously took a single step closer to one another.

“Thank you,” Duff whispered.

[to be continued… i think]

#duzzy #neurodivergent writer #autism #izzy gnr #duff gnr #izzy stradlin #duff mckagan #autistic!duff #guns n roses #aquarium #sharks #i'm a nerd

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jobrookekarev · 2 years ago

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So I Showed up on Your Doorstep

Chapter Six of Eleven: Standing in Your Cardigan.

Words: 5,329

Summary: Alex kisses Jo for the first time, by accident. Then Alex admits he loves Jo to the twins and Izzie encourages Jo to work things out with him.

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy.

Relationship: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson, and Jo Wilson/OC.

Characters: Alex Karev, Jo Wilson, Luna Ashton-Wilson, Izzie Stevens, Eli Stevens, and Alexis Stevens.

Rating: General Audiences.

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Soft! Kisses, Talks, Pining.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

……………………………………………………………………

The first time Alex kissed her since they reunited was by accident. Things between them had a kind of tenderness, a gentle understanding and caring that they had when they were married. It was so easy to fall back into a rhythm of things with her. It was almost like they had never divorced at all. She leaned into his touch when he put a hand on her back and settled into the place next to him on the couch at night. Alex had to catch himself from leaning in to kiss her goodbye or goodnight.

Until one time, he didn't.

It had been a little over a week since Jo and Luna had arrived. Although Izzie and Alex had let the twins stay home from school a few days as they had stayed home from work. However, they knew the kids couldn't miss any more days of school. So for the first time, all four of them were going to school and work, leaving Jo and Luna at the house for the day.

So there they all were at 8:25 am, all rushing out the door for work and school like they always did.

“Where's that case file I was looking at last night?” Alex asked, rummaging around in couch cushions, trying to find it.

“I put it in your bag because you left it on the coffee table and I knew the kids were going to spill milk on it in the morning,” Izzie said, holding up his bag as she sat by the door packing her own bag before yelling to the twins. “Alexis, Eli, come on, we got to go.”

“Oh, don't look so grumpy. I used to do the same thing for you,” Jo said, lifting Luna out of the high chair expertly with one arm and putting her on her hip before she looked over at Izzie.

Jo’s wrist was indeed fractured from her falling back onto the grass and had been set in a blue cast. With Alex’s support, Jo made a report at the hospital and got things settled with a lawyer and the police in Seattle. She pressed charges against Tom, and a hearing was set for two weeks from now. In the meantime, Izzie and Alex agreed to let her stay for as long as she needed to.

“He used to always leave his case files on the coffee table and we always ended up spilling beer or something on them. So I would tuck them away in his bag, and every morning, he would always ask me, 'Hey Jo, where's my case files?'”

“That's not how my voice sounds,” Alex said as he grabbed the folder from Izzie's hands and sat on the bench to put on his shoes.

“It is,” both of the girls said in unison before they exchanged a look, as his frown only deepened.

“Ellie?” Luna asked, looking around.

“Oh shoot,” Jo said, looking around and going into the living room. “Has anyone seen Luna's elephant?”

“Ellie was on the coffee table next to my case file, so I put Ellie to bed in the toy bin,” Alex said, grabbing the stuffed elephant from the bin under the end table.

Jo set Luna down and she walked over to Alex as he picked her up and set her on the couch with Ellie.

“Alexis, Eli, come on, we got to go,” Izzie called again as she got up and grabbed their coats.

“I'm here, I'm here,” Eli said as he came down the stairs one at a time. “But I can't find my math homework.”

“I put it right here after we finished it last night, remember, buddy?” Jo said, holding up the math homework for him to see.

Jo soon became the twins' favorite grown-up. Especially after she helped them with their math homework. Neither Alex nor Izzie were particularly good at math. Especially with the common core curriculum that the school threw at them. Jo somehow understood it and was happy to help the twins.

He was surprised by how much she and Luna fit into their family. Jo and Izzie seemed to just instantly click and they were soon friends, best friends even. They just talked about anything and everything. Although their favorite topic was him, much to Alex’s dismay. Alexis and Eli instantly loved Jo and Luna too, and Jo enjoyed spending time and playing with them. Luna loved them as well, she looked up to the two bigger kids and followed them around like a puppy. The twins had always lamented about wanting a younger sibling, and they doted on Luna, constantly pulling her away to play.

“Thanks, Jo,” Eli said as he grabbed his homework and put it into his bag.

Luna had climbed onto his back, so Alex picked her up and carried her on his back as he walked over to the kitchen. Izzie was putting breakfast dishes in the dishwasher and Jo was wiping down the counter. Alex smiled as Luna put her chin on his shoulder and covered his face with one of Ellie's elephant ears as she giggled. Jo looked up and caught them and she stared at him with a soft smile. Yet she offered no help as Luna covered his eyes with her hands.

“Where's Alexis? Shouldn’t she be down here by now?” Jo asked, looking up at the clock.

“She should be down in a second,” Alex said before finally setting Luna on the counter.

He made a funny face at her as he rolled up Luna's pants. They were a pair of Alexis' old pants that Izzie had gotten out of storage, but they were too long for her. When it became clear that Jo and Luna were staying longer than just overnight, Izzie pulled out all of the twins' things from storage. She had kept everything from when they were little and gave Jo a few extra pairs of clothing and toys. She also let Jo borrow some of her clothes. It was weird to see Jo in the bright floral things Izzie favored. Alex looked over at her in one of Izzie's light purple floral blouses and jeans, though he thought she looked good in anything. Luna kicked his hand, reminding him of the girl he should be paying attention to, and Alex went back to rolling up her pants before glancing at the clock.

“Alexis, if you ain't down here in five minutes, we're leaving without you,” Alex called out up the stairs as he picked up Luna again.

“Owey ears,” Luna said, covering her ears with her hands.

“Sorry Luna and sorry Ellie,” Alex said, leaning down to kiss her hands and the elephant ears as Luna took her hands away and giggled.

“Alex, don't say ain't. It’s not proper English, say are not,” Izzie said, as Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“We live in the south, Izzie. Technically it's proper English around here. Ain't it so Luna Lu,” Alex said as he tossed her up in the air and her laughter filled the ceiling.

“Technically, we live in the Midwest and just because people say it doesn't mean it's proper,” Izzie said, glaring at him as she adjusted her blouse. “And stop tossing Luna up in the air like that. You’re gonna drop her.”

Alex caught Luna and tossed her back up in the air, just one last time as Jo’s laughter joined Luna's.

“I know Alex is careful with her and it's nice that she has someone who can toss her up in the air like that,” Jo said, smiling as she stared at them, not quite watching his actions, but more so just staring at him and Luna.

Alex couldn't help but smile at her before he looked back at Luna and tossed her up in the air just one more time before he put her on his hip and walked over to the door to grab his coat and car keys.

“I'm ready,” Alexis said as she came running down the stairs, passing by all of them as she sprinted out the door, leaving it open behind her as she ran down the porch steps.

“Did she have shoes on?” Jo asked, pointing to where Alexis had run out the door.

“No, she did not,” Izzie said as she shook her head and Alex rolled his eyes. They were used to Alexis's barefoot runs before she came running back into the house, stopping in the doorway.

“I forgot my shoes,” Alexis said as she sat down and pulled her socks and sneakers onto her dusty feet.

“Alright, let's get going,” Izzie said, grabbing the twin’s lunches and putting them in their bags. They grabbed backpacks, lunches, coats, and everything else they would need as they all fumbled around to get out the door.

“Are you sure you're okay being here alone?” Alex asked as he handed Luna to Jo and put his bag over his shoulder. “I don't really have anything going on today, so I could just stay home…”

“I'm okay, Alex, really,” Jo said, staring at him for a moment too long. “I'm just thankful that you and Izzie trust me to be in your house alone.”

“Yeah, Izzie didn't let me stay home alone until a month after I got here,” Alex said with a shake of his head, although he knew why.

“Well, in my defense, the last time I met Alex, he was still that frat boy resident that I thought I knew,” Izzie said as she pulled on her own shoes as she glanced over at Jo. “I certainly didn't expect to get the mature man that you know him as. Besides, in the past two days, Jo has actually helped around the house. When you first got here, you didn't even do the dishes!”

Jo's eyes went wide as she looked over at him. “Alex, I thought I trained you better than that?”

“I may not have done the dishes, but I did all the child care, and need I remind you who made breakfast and did the dishes last night and every night for the past few months?” Alex said, glaring at both of them.

It wasn't that he couldn't do the dishes when he first got here. It was just that he learned all of his domestic skills because of Jo. Every time he thought about loading the dishwasher or scrubbing a pan, he thought about the soap that Jo had bought him that smelled like fresh lemons. He thought about the magnet she put on the dishwasher so they would know whose turn it was. How she taught him this little trick to get tough stains off the pans and how every dish in his cabinet was Jo’s. The only reason he bought them was because she refused to drink with him again unless he got actual dishes. So he went to the store and bought pots and pans, silverware, cups, glasses, and plates just because he wanted her to come over again. He was so hopelessly in love with her back then and he didn't even know it. Here he was again, hopelessly in love with her and he knew it, but he wouldn't act on it.

“Daddy, you are a well appreciated member of this household,” Eli said, pulling Alex out of his head as Eli used the same phrase that Izzie said to them when they finished their chores.

“Thank you, Eli. I'm glad someone around here appreciates me,” Alex said, giving him a wink as Jo and Izzie rolled their eyes in sync.

“Okay, are we ready to go yet?” Alexis said, stomping her foot as she waited by the door gripping the straps of her backpack.

“The attitude is not appreciated, young lady,” Izzie said, putting her hands on her hips as she gave Alexis the signature mom look. “Need I remind you that we were all waiting on you this morning and I'm only asking for the same patients from you.”

“But I couldn't find my sparkly pom-pom pen,” Alexis said, pulling the pin out of her pocket and holding it out for them to see.

“You're in first grade, kiddo. They don't even let you use pens yet,” Alex reminded her, gently tugging on her pigtails.

“Yeah, but this one is special to me because it matches the pom-poms on Luna’s hat,” Alexis said, holding it up to the hat on Luna’s head as she smiled and all the adults softened.

“Alright, are we all ready to go, now?” Izzie asked, putting her bag over her shoulders and jingling keys in her hand.

“Ready,” Alexis said, standing up tall and straight, clearly eager to get out the door.

“Here, Jo and Luna,” Eli said, handing her a little toy mouse and a book. “This is Mouse and his book. He'll show you what I'm doing while I'm at school and keep you company until I get back.”

“Thank you, Eli, that's so sweet of you,” Jo said, reaching out to pull him in for a hug “Luna, can you say thank you?”

Instead, Luna wiggled out of her arms and Jo set her down. As soon as she did, Luna ran to Eli and hugged his legs as he quickly hugged her back. It was such a sweet moment and Jo and Izzie awed at their cute bond.

“Tank ooh,” Luna said, holding the mouse and inspecting her new friend.

“You're welcome,” Eli said with a smile, positively blaming at the affection that Luna gave him. “I just didn't want you to be lonely while we're all at school and work.”

“That's very sweet of you, Eli,” Izzie said, putting an arm around his shoulders and leaning in to kiss his forehead.

“Okay, okay, Jo and Luna are gonna be fine. Let's go,” Alexis said, waving her hand to usher them out the door.

“Okay,” Izzie said, rolling her eyes at Alexis' antics. “Now, be sure to tell your teachers that I'm picking you up at school today.”

“And Jo, call me if you need anything. Really anything, I can be back in half an hour,” Alex said, looking over at Jo as he stood in the doorway holding his keys, a little reluctant to leave her.

“We'll be fine, won't we, Luna,” Jo said, looking over at her as Luna nodded so much that her hat fell off, and Alex laughed as he leaned down to pick it up and put it back on her head.

“Well, regardless, we'll both have our phones on us today and call Willy up the road if any happens or any of the animals get loose,” Izzie said, gesturing to the farmer's number posted on the fridge.

“Got it, thanks,” Jo said, glancing back at the number.

“Okay, goodbye kisses, then let’s go,” Izzie said, leaning down to hold Alexis still so she could kiss her cheek, then leaning over to kiss Eli. “Love you both.”

“Love you too, Mommy,” Eli and Alexis said at the same time. Then Jo held Luna down to them so they could each kiss her cheek. “Bye Luna.”

“Jo,” Eli said, tugging on her shirt. “You gotta bend down so we can give you a goodbye kiss too.”

Alex could see Jo smile as her heart melted with love for them. She leaned down so Alexis and Eli could kiss her cheeks and he loved the way she blushed as she stood back up.

“I love you two squirts,” Alex said, kissing their heads too, despite how he still had to drop them off at school. They wouldn’t let him kiss them at drop-off as apparently, they were too old for goodbye kisses in front of their friends.

“Bye guys,” Alexis said, giving them a single wave as she ran out the door.

“Bye Mommy, bye Jo, bye Luna,” Eli said, giving them each a hug before running out to join Alexis in the car.

“Bye-bye,” Luna aggressively waved to Eli and Alexis with both of her arms as the twins eagerly waved back to her.

Alex looked at Jo, staring at her just a little bit too long as he lingered on the porch, reluctant to leave. “Okay, then, bye Jo. Try not to get into too much trouble.”

“No promises,” Jo said, smiling at him as they exchanged the familiar goodbye they used to say to each other. She gave him a soft smile as he reluctantly took a step back before he turned to go.

“No, kiss, kiss,” Luna yelled as he looked back to see her demanding a kiss of her own as she puckered her lips.

“Bye Luna,” Alex said, kissing her cheek before he kissed Jo's lips. “Bye Jo.”

He didn't actually realize what he had done until he licked his lips and tasted her strawberry chapstick. He had turned around to walk down the stairs and froze on the first step. Alex hadn't meant to kiss her. It was just something he had done so automatically. Every day before work, he used to kiss Jo goodbye, and here every day, he would kiss the twins goodbye. So when he went to kiss Luna, he didn't even think twice about kissing Jo as well.

Alex turned around and saw Jo standing there, wide-eyed. She held her fingers up to her lips as if she could still feel his kiss. Her cheeks, which had been pink when Eli and Alexis kissed her, were now a flaming red. Alex didn't know what to do or say. He didn't want to say that he regretted the kiss because he didn't and he didn't want to say that he did it on purpose because he didn't. Instead, he just looked back at the twins and hurried into the car.

However, the second he got in the car, the twins jumped on him like vultures.

“Daddy, how come you kissed Jo?” Alexis asked, leaning forward to see him.

“Yeah, Daddy, how come you kiss Jo goodbye, but you never kiss Mommy goodbye?” Eli asked in quick succession as he raised an eyebrow at Alex.

“Umm I, I just, I...” Alex could barely form a whole word, let alone a sentence of an exclamation as the feeling of Jo’s lips was the only thing he could think about.

“Daddy doesn't kiss Mommy because Mommy and Daddy aren't in love,” Alexis said as if it was obvious, letting out a dramatic sigh with an eye roll that she definitely got from Izzie. “But Daddy and Jo are in love, so they kiss.”

“But I thought that you did love Mommy,” Eli asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror with a slight frown.

“I do, I do love your mom,” Alex reassured them as he turned around to face them. He wanted his kids to grow up in a family knowing that even if their parents weren't in love, they still loved and cared about each other. “It's, it's kind of like what Alexis said. Your mom and I love each other as friends and we love you guys because you're our kids. But I love Jo because, well, she's smart and kind. She cares about you guys and me and Izzie. She understands me and forgives me, and I just… I love her.”

It was the first time he had said he loved her and why since Jo got there and here he was saying it to his seven-year-olds. Still, Alex smiled, sure of his words. He loved Jo and he wanted to love her again. However as he looked back at Jo standing on the porch and talking with Izzie, he knew it wasn't the right time for such a declaration. So he sat back, put on his seat belt, and started the car as he pulled out of the driveway.

“I love Luna like I love Eli. She's the perfect little sister. She's cute and sweet and she's always plays along with us. I loved Jo too, she helps us with our homework and takes us places. She also gives good hugs. But I don't like her like I love Eli. I love Jo like I love Mommy and Daddy. Even though she's not our Mommy or our Daddy. She does a lot of stuff that you and Mommy do for me, and I love her for it,” Alexis said, so sure of her words and free with her love as she had always been. Alexis was so quick to grow attached to people and so willing to love in a way Alex wished he could.

“I love Jo like I love Mommy and Daddy too,” Eli said as he and Alexis exchanged a nod before he continued. “Daddy, is there a third word for a grown-up who's a part of your family like your Mommy, but not an auntie?”

Alex watched Jo and Luna as she and Izzie talked on the porch. “I don't know, but we can try and think of something. I'm glad you guys love Jo and Luna. I love them too.”

It made Alex's heart swell to know that his kids loved Jo and Luna as much as he did. It was all he had ever wanted since Jo came to the farmhouse. He stopped the car at the end of the driveway as he looked out onto the main road. He also looked in the rearview mirror and saw Izzie leave and get in her car before Jo and Luna waved her off. It was a dream come true.

“Daddy, if you love Jo, does that mean you're going to marry her?” Eli asked, causing Alex to pause before he turned onto the main road.

“Daddy and Jo are already married. Remember the wedding photos? You can't get married twice,” Alexis said, pointing out with a nod.

“That's kind of true Jo and I were married, but we're not married anymore, just like your Mommy and I aren't married anymore,” Alex said as he turned to go into town.

“So, if you're not married now, does that mean you are going to marry Jo again?” Eli asked, still confused.

Alex looked in the rearview mirror. He could see Alexis’s eagerness to answer as she opened her mouth, but he quickly cut her off. “Nobody's getting married right now. Jo and Luna are just here for a little while. Then they're going to go home to Seattle.”

“Oh,” Alexis said, visibly disappointed as she sat back in her seat and looked out the window.

“I wish they could stay forever,” Eli sighed, talking to no one in particular as he looked out the window as well.

“Me too, buddy,” Alex whispered as he focused on the road ahead.

He couldn't imagine Jo and Luna leaving now. Not when Luna rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep in his arms. Or Jo looked at him with such soft eyes and a warm smile. It was the same smile that he had fallen in love with and it made his heart ache.

It was something he thought about every day that Jo was there. He knew that every day was one day closer to them going back to Seattle, but every day they stayed was another day he got to see them. A year and a half ago, Alex had the chance to ask Jo to stay, and he didn't. Yet here he was again with the option to ask her to stay and oh how he wanted her to stay. Back then, he didn't know how to ask her to give up everything for him. But this time he knew that he couldn't be a coward and he had to ask. Even if she said no, he knew he'd regret it for the rest of his life if he never asked Jo to stay.

……………………………………………………………………

Jo stood on the porch steps, frozen as Alex’s kiss still lingered on her lips. It was so automatic in the way that he kissed her. It was the same way he used to kiss her before work every day. Just a quick peck on her lips and then he was gone. But that quick little peck of love was one of her favorites, or it used to be. She brushed her fingers across her lips to double-check that he had actually kissed her and that she wasn't dreaming. She saw Alex pause and glance back at her. His eyes were wide and his cheeks burned red before he rushed down the steps and into the car. Still, she stood there frozen and stared at him.

“Well, I don't think I've ever seen Alex so smitten,” Izzie said, with a knowing smile.

“What?” Jo asked as her words broke her out of her trance and she looked over at Izzie.

“I've seen him with women before,” Izzie said with a little smile as Jo just looked at her before Izzie continued.

“When we were interns, not recently. He hasn't even given a girl a second look since he got here. I never knew why until I saw the two of you together. Jo, I know that you came here because of what happened to you, and I know that you weren't expecting anything from Alex. Still, I think you came here on purpose, whether you knew it or not. I've seen the way the two of you have acted around each other this past week. You still love him and he is hopelessly in love with you. Now, you both have a second chance at things. I think the two of you would be idiots if you didn't give each other that chance.”

“I can’t,” Jo said, automatically as she looked to where Alex was talking to the twins in the car.

“Yes, you can. You just have to talk to him, so what's holding you back?” Izzie asked, reaching out and putting a hand on Jo's arm.

“I, I,” but the words Jo was going to say died on her lips.

Ever since Alex left, whenever Meredith, or Link, or anybody else asked her why she didn’t want to fight for him, for them, Jo always said the same thing. That Alex left her, and he didn't give her a choice in their divorce. She wasn't going to fight for someone she had already lost. Yet, here she was, in Kansas with him, facing the consequences of their actions. For some reason, his decision was a little more understandable and she was a little more forgiving. She looked at the twins and thought. How could Alex not fall in love with them, and how could he not stay with them? Because she had fallen in love with them and she wanted to stay too.

She loved Eli's quiet, observant demeanor. He was so much like Alex in every way. He was so smart and watchful, observing everyone and learning how to help them. He was so kind just like Izzie. She loved Alexis and her bright and happy personality. She was eager to help anyone and loved making them laugh. She also laughed in her sleep like Alex did sometimes. Like Izzie, she spoke her mind regardless of whether she got in trouble.

She even loved Izzie too. In the past week, they had gotten close and had become friends. She loved how much Izzie cared about everyone. Even her and Luna, when she didn't have to. Izzie was so optimistic, she saw the best in everyone. She also believed that everything would work itself out like she did now with things between her and Alex.

Being here in Kansas, Jo got to know them and became a part of their little family. Loving them now and knowing that she didn't get the opportunity to love them before was a hurt that still lingered inside of her.

“Jo,” Izzie gently said, bringing her out of her head.

“I don't know. I thought I knew why I could never forgive Alex, but, every day that I'm here... I just, I don't know anymore,” Jo said, shaking her head, her hair bouncing. Luna reached up and grabbed ahold of Jo's strands, and she quickly moved to untangle her daughter's fingers from her hair.

“Look, I'm not going to be meddlesome,” Izzie said, although Jo just gave her a deadpan look. In the past week, she had learned just how meddlesome Izzie could be in her friend’s and family's lives. “I swear I'm not, but I think that you and Alex should at least talk. The two of you haven't been alone since the night you got here, and I know that you have things to say to him, even if you just yell at him. I also know that Alex has things he wants to say to you too, things he didn't say in the letter. The two of you should talk. That’s all I'm saying.”

“There's so much I want to say to him, but we just haven't gotten the chance,” Jo said, looking down at Luna, who now played with the little mouse Eli gave her. “And with Luna…”

Jo had barely left her side in the past week. Every time she left Luna with Izzie or Alex to go to the bathroom or something, she heard Luna’s phantom cries and rushed out to comfort her. Only to find that Luna was happily playing with them.

“Why don't I take Luna and the twins up to the barn for an hour or two after dinner or something? Then the two of you can talk?” Izzie offered, reaching out and putting her hand on Jo’s shoulder before she smiled at Luna. “What do you think Luna? Do you want to go see the horses?”

“‘orse ‘orse,” Luna said, trying to master her new word. She tried to wiggle out of Jo's arms so she could run over and see the horses. She had grown to love them since she first saw them the day after they got here.

“Okay,” Jo said, shifting Luna to her other hip with her good hand and getting a better grip on her. She decided to take a chance and face things with Alex for the first time since he left.

“Alright, once we get home, we can work the details out. In the meantime, I have to get going, but again, call me if you need anything,” Izzie said, giving Jo a look that she usually only reserved for the twins.

“I will, I promise,” Jo said as Izzie stepped away to go down to her car. “And Izzie?”

“Yeah?” Izzie looked back at her, pausing on the first step.

“Thank you for everything. You've been so kind to us the past week and I want you to know that I really appreciate it.”

Izzie just smiled at her before coming back and wrapping her arms around Jo in a hug. She remembered why Cristina used to describe Izzie as a human ball of sunshine. She really was as warm and kind as the sun. Izzie pulled away, but not before giving her shoulder one last squeeze. Then she hopped down the stairs and got it to her car. Jo watched her leave, catching Alex in the twins sitting at the end of the driveway, long after they should have left.

Jo took a deep breath as she held her daughter close, hugging her for just a second and then pulling back to look at her. “Alright, Luna, you and I are gonna hang out just the two of us today. How about we go inside and play spaceship to the moon, yeah?”

“Moo Moo,” Luna said, positively vibrating with excitement as she jumped up and down in Jo's arms.

“Yes, let's go to the moon, my little astronaut,” Jo said before she headed back inside and hummed the Little Einsteins' theme song. Which she was embarrassed to have learned.

#jo wilson #alex karev #grey's anatomy #jolex #izzie stevens #eli stevens #alexis stevens #luna wilson #otp: home and heart #grey's anatomy fanfic #my writing #my work #my fanfiction #SISUOYD

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m12writer · 12 days ago

Text

Birds of a Feather - A Hard Day's Night

Meredith VO: The game. They say either a person has what it takes to play, or they don't. My mother was one of the greats. Me, on the other hand...I'm kinda screwed.

(Meredith wakes up on the couch and pulls a blanket off a naked man on the floor, wrapping it around herself. She hits him with a pillow and he grunts, waking up. He lifts up her bra.)

Man: This...is...?

Meredith: (Grabbing it, smiling) Humiliating on so many levels. You have to go.

Man: (Sitting up) Why don't you just come back down here and we'll pick up where we left off?

Meredith: No, seriously. You have to go, I'm late. Which isn't what you want to be on your first day of work, so

Man: So, ah, you actually live here.

Meredith: No.

Man: Oh.

Meredith: Yes. Kind of.

Man: (Dressing) Oh. It's nice. Little dusty. Odd. But it's nice. So how do you kind of live here?

Meredith: I moved two weeks ago from Boston, it was my mother's house, I'm selling it.

Man: Oh, I'm sorry.

Meredith: For what?

Man: You said was.

Meredith: Oh! My mother's not dead, she's - you know what, we don't have to do the thing.

Man: Oh. We can do anything you want.

Meredith: No, the thing, exchange the details, pretend we care...look, I'm gonna go upstairs and take a shower, okay, and when I get back down here, you won't be here, so, um, goodbye...um...

Man: Derek.

Meredith: (They shake hands) Derek. Right. Meredith.

Derek: Meredith.

Meredith: Yeah. (He comes closer, she backs away) Mm-hmm.

Derek: Nice meeting you.

Meredith: Bye Derek (smiling and fleeing for the stairs).

***

(Cut to Meredith leaving the house. Derek is presumably gone. Panning sh*ts over the city as Meredith drives to work. Meredith enters a room filled with other interns as a doctor talks.)

***

Doctor: Each of you comes here hopeful. Wanting in on the game. A month ago you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors. The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play? That's up to you.

Meredith VO: Like I said. I'm screwed.

***

(Fadeout to logo, then cut to intern locker room.)

Doctor: Okay. Martin, Robinson, Bond, Parkins.

Meredith: Only seven women out of twenty.

Female Korean intern (Cristina Yang): Yeah. I hear one of them's a model. Seriously, like that's going to help with the respect thing?

Female intern (Connie Sloan): Not at all. Connie Sloan.

(Meredith and the female Korean intern look at her.)

Meredith: You're Cristina, right?

Cristina: Which resident you assigned to? I got Bailey.

Meredith: The nazi? Yeah, me too.

Connie: Same here.

Male intern (George O'Malley): You got the nazi? So did I. At least we'll be tortured together, right? I'm George O'Malley, uh, we met at the mixer, you had a black dress with a slit up the side, strappy sandals...

(Cristina, Connie, and Meredith exchange looks)

George: Now you think I'm gay.

Cristina: (walking away) Uh-huh.

George: No, I'm not gay, it's, ah, it's just that, you know, you were, I mean, you were very, unforgettable.

Doctor: Sloan, O'Malley, Yang, Grey, Stevens.

George: (muttering) And I'm totally forgettable.

Cristina: (to Doctor) Bailey?

Doctor: End of the hall.

Cristina: That's the nazi?

(Medium shot of Dr. Bailey. She's short, black and a bit overweight. She doesn't look very threatening.)

George: I thought the nazi would be a guy.

Meredith: I thought the nazi would be...the nazi.

Connie: No kidding.

Pretty female intern (Izzie Stevens): Maybe it's professional jealousy. Maybe she's brilliant, and they call her n*zi because they're jealous. Maybe she's nice.

Cristina: Let me guess. You're the model.

(Izzie gives Cristina a look and turns to Dr. Bailey, smiling and extending a hand)

Izzie: Hi, I'm Isabel Stevens, but everyone calls me Izzie.

(Bailey looks her up and down, doesn't respond or shake her hand)

Bailey: I have five rules. Memorise them. Rule number one, don't bother sucking up, I already hate you, that's not gonna change. (indicates stuff on the bench) Trauma protocol, phone lists, pagers. Nurses will page you, you answer every page at a run. A run, that's rule number two. Your first shift starts now and lasts forty-eight hours. You're interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain, you run labs, write orders, work every second night till you drop and don't complain! (Cut to Bailey opening the door to a room with a couple of bunk beds). On call rooms. Attendings hog them, sleep when you can, where you can, which brings me to rule number three, if I'm sleeping, don't wake me, unless your patient is actually dying. Rule number four, the dying patient better not be dead when I get there, not only would you have killed someone, you would have also woke me for no good reason, we clear?

(Meredith raises a hand.)

Bailey: Yes.

Meredith: You said five rules. That was only four.

(Bailey's pager beeps)

Bailey: Rule number five. When I move, you move. (Runs down the corridor, followed by the interns, yells at a few doctors blocking the hallway) Get out of my way!

***

(Cut to shot of a helicopter over the city, cut to the interns and Bailey moving a stretcher over to it, on the roof of the hospital.)

Bailey: What've we got?

Paramedic: (as Katie's put on the stretcher and taken in to the hospital) Katie Bryce, fifteen-year-old female, new onset seizures, intermittent for the past week, ID lost en route, started grand mal seizing as we descended.

Bailey: All right, get her on her side, Izzie, ten milligrams Diazepam, no, no, the white lead is on the right, righty whitey, smoke over fire, a large bore I.V. don't let the blood haemolyse, let's go!

(Izzie injects her and she stops seizing. A new doctor, Preston Burke, enters, black, tall, young.)

Burke: So I heard we got a wet fish on dry land?

Bailey: Absolutely Dr. Burke.

Burke: Dr. Bailey, I'm gonna shotgun her.

Bailey: That means every test in the book, CT, CBC, chem. seven, tux screen, Cristina, you're on labs, George, patient workups, Meredith, Connie, get Katie for a CT, she's your responsibility now.

Izzie: Wait, what about me?

Bailey: You - honey, you get to do rectal exams.

***

(Cut to Izzie pulling on gloves and covering her fingers with gel. Cut to Cristina peering into an operating room, where Bailey is.)

Bailey: What are you doing here?

Cristina: Um, Katie Bryce's labs came out clear, there's nothing in the results that explain her seizures, I just thought you'd wanna know.

Bailey: Okay. (Goes to pull her mask back up and close the door)

Cristina: Ah, I - I heard every year the attending on call picks the best intern and, and lets them perform a procedure, during the first shift? (Bailey stares at her) I'm, I'm just saying it's what I heard...

Bailey: Go away. Now.

***

(Cut to George using a stethoscope.)

George: Yeah, sounds good.

Woman: He'll be fine? You'll be fine.

Patient: (smiling, lying back) If you don't count that my bacon days are over, sure.

George: You'll have surgery tomorrow with Dr. Burke, I hear he's good, and after that, you can have all of the bacon-flavoured soy product you can eat.

Patient: Mmm, k*ll me now.

George: I wish I could, but I'm a healer. (gets weird looks)

***

(Cut to Meredith and Connie with Katie (on a bed) in an elevator.)

Katie: You're lost.

Connie: We're not lost. How are you feeling?

Katie: How do you think I'm feeling? I'm missing my pageant.

Meredith: You're missing your pageant. (wheeling her out of the elevator and around a corner)

Katie: The Spokane Teen Miss? I was in the top ten after the first two rounds. This is my year. I could've won. (sitting up, being wheeled back around the same way) Hello? You're so lost. What are you, like, new?

***

(Cut to Izzie...doing her job.)

Izzie: Okay, so I'm gonna, just gonna, insert my fingers...into your rectum.

***

(Cut to George giving his patient an injection. And again. It's hurting the patient. Cut back to Izzie's face. Cut back to George)

George: Nope.

***

(Cut back to Izzie, who's really disgusted now but not saying anything. Cut back to George's patient. Dr Burke is pulling on a glove.)

Burke: (to George) Out. Out.

George: Bet you missed a lot when you first started out. (Burke looks derisive.)

***

(Cut to Katie, Connie, and Meredith.)

Katie: I twisted my ankle. I do rhythmic gymnastics, which is like, really cool. Nobody else does it. And I tripped over my ribbon, and I didn't get stuck with someone this clueless. And that was like, a nurse.

***

(Cut to Burke)

Burke: (to George) You and I are going to have so much fun together.

***

(Cut to Izzie closing a curtain, cut to the cafeteria. George sits down. Izzie is staring at the food with some horror.)

George: This shift is a marathon, not a sprint, eat.

Izzie: I can't.

George: You should eat something.

Izzie: You try eating after performing seventeen rectal exams. The nazi hates me.

George: The nazi's a resident. I have attendings hating me.

Cristina: You know Meredith is inbred? Or that Connie's father is Mark Sloan?

George: Like it's uncommon around here to be a doctor's -

Cristina: No, I mean royally inbred. Her mother is Ellis Grey. And Connie's father is Mark Sloan.

Izzie: Shut up, the Ellis Grey? Mark Sloan?

Cristina: Uh-huh.

George: Who's Ellis Grey and Mark Sloan?

(Izzie and Cristina laugh.)

Cristina: The Grey method? One of the best plastic surgeon on the east cost. Where'd you go to med school, Mexico?

Izzie: She was one of the first big chick surgeons, she practically invented the abdominal-

Cristina: She's a living legend, she won the Harper Avery. Twice.

George: So I didn't know two things.

Izzie: Talk about parental pressure.

Cristina: I would kill to have Ellis Grey as a mother. I would kill to be Ellis Grey. All I need is one good case.

(Meredith comes over and sits down with her tray with Connie following her)

Meredith: Katie Bryce is a pain in the ass. If I hadn't taken the Hippocratic oath, I'd Kevorkian her with my bare hands.

Connie: One of the reasons why I hate teenagers.

(Everybody stares at her and Meredith)

Meredith: What?

Burke: Good afternoon interns. It's posted, but I thought I'd share the good news personally. As you know, the honour of performing the first surgery is reserved for the intern that shows the most promise. As I'm running the OR today, I get to make that choice. (he claps George on the back) George O'Malley. You'll scrub in for an adipectomy this afternoon. Congratulations.

George: Me?

Burke: Enjoy.

(Burke leaves, no one speaks.)

George: Did he say me?

***

(Cut to another part of the hospital.)

Bailey: I've seen his file. George O'Malley barely made the cut to get into this program, he's not your guy.

Burke: No, he's my guy all right.

Bailey: Shit, every year you pick your guy, and every year your guy suffers more than any other intern on surgery.

Burke: Terrorise one, and the rest fall in line.

Bailey: I get it, I respect it, but George? O'Malley's a puppy, he can't even take the pressure. (walking away. Camera moves to a man and a woman, not doctors)

Woman: Katie Bryce, 3604?

Nurse: It's right there.

Woman: Thank you.

***

(Cut to inside Katie's room.)

Woman: Katie, honey, mom and dad are here.

Meredith: They gave her a sedative for the CT scan, so she's a little groggy.

Mother: Will she be all right?

Father: Our doctor at home said she might need an operation, is that true?

Mother: What kind of operation?

Meredith: She's, um, well, you know what, I'm not, I'm not the doctor, uh, I'm a doctor, but I'm not Katie's doctor, so I'll go get him for you.

(Meredith goes to Bailey.)

Bailey: What?

Meredith: Katie's parents have questions. Do you talk to them, or do I ask Burke?

Bailey: No, Burke's off the case, Katie belongs to the new attending now, Dr. Shepherd, he's over there. (we can't see Dr. Shepherd)

(Meredith takes a few steps in that direction. She stops dead. We can see him now, he's talking to another doctor. It's Derek, from this morning. Meredith's eyes widen and she starts to turn to go. He glances her way, does a double take. She turns and leaves. He's still staring.)

***

(Meredith is walking down the hall and Derek grabs her arm.)

Meredith: Hey - (he pulls her into a stairwell, no one's around.) Dr. Shepherd, -

Derek: Dr. Shepherd? This morning it was Derek. Now it's Dr. Shepherd.

Meredith: Dr. Shepherd, we should pretend it never happened.

Derek: What never happened, you sleeping with last night? Or you throwing me out this morning? Because both are fond memories I'd like to hold onto.

Meredith: No. There will be no memories. I'm not the girl in the bar anymore, and you're not the guy. This can't exist. You get that, right?

Derek: You took advantage of me and now you want to forget about it.

Meredith: I did not take -

Derek: I was drunk, vulnerable and good-looking and you took advantage.

Meredith: (smiling) Okay, I was the one who was drunk, and you are not that good-looking.

Derek: Well, maybe not today. Last night, last night I was very good-looking. I had my red shirt on, my good-looking shirt, you took advantage.

Meredith: I did not take -

Derek: You want to take advantage again? Say Friday night?

Meredith: No. You're an attending. And I'm your intern. Stop looking at me like that.

Derek: Like what?

Meredith: Like you've seen me naked. (Derek smirks) Dr. Shepherd. This is inappropriate. Has that ever occurred to you?

(Meredith leaves, Shepherd sighs.)

***

(Cut to George, about to go into surgery.)

George: (muttering) Open identify ligate irrigate close. Open identify ligate irrigate close. Open identify ligate irrigate close.

Intern 1: He's going to faint. He's a fainter.

Intern 2: Nah, code brown. Right in his pants.

Intern 1: He's all about the flops, he's going to sweat himself unsterile.

Intern 3: Ten bucks says he messes up the McBird.

Cristina: Twenty says he cries.

Connie: I'll put twenty on a total meltdown.

Meredith: Fifty says he pulls the whole thing off.

(Everybody looks at her, silent.)

Meredith: That's one of us, down there. The first one of us. Where's your loyalty?

(A pause.)

Cristina: Seventy-five says he can't even ID the appendix.

Izzie: I'll take that action.

(Others agree)

Burke: Okay, O'Malley, let's see what you can do.

Meredith: Here it comes.

George: Scalpel.

Nurse: Scalpel.

(George takes it, the interns cheer from the gallery. Burke motions for them to shut up.)

Cristina: That Burke, he's trouble.

(Interns laugh)

(George gets ready to cut.)

Burke: More pressure. Human flesh is a tough shell, dig in.

George: Pick-ups.

Nurse: Pick-ups.

George: Clamp.

Nurse: Clamp.

George: Met some bone. I'm there.

Intern 1: Damn, he got the peritoneum and he opened him up.

Meredith: I told you, he's going to pull it off.

George: Scalpel.

Nurse: Scalpel.

George: Appendix is out (tossing it into a tray, to cheers)

Burke: Not bad.

George: Thank you.

Burke: Now all you have to do is invert the stump into the secum and simultaneously pull up on the purse-strings but be careful not to (rip) break them. (groans) He ripped the secum. Got a bleeder. You're filling with stool, what do you do now?

George: Uh...uh...

Burke: Think. You start the suction, and you start digging for those purse-strings before she bleeds to death. Belky, give him a clamp.

Nurse: BP's dropping.

Connie: He's choking.

Meredith: Come on, George.

Burke: Today. Pull your balls out of your back pocket, let's go. What are you waiting for, suction? (beeping starts)

Nurse: Getting too low folks... Dr Burke...

Burke: Get out of the way. Pansy-ass idiot. Get him out of here. Suction. Clamp.

Intern (Alex Karev): 007.

Other intern: 007, yep, that's a total 007.

Izzie: What's 007 mean?

Connie: Licensed to kill.

***

(Cut to Seattle at night. Cut to interns sitting on spare beds along an empty corridor.)

George: 007. They're calling me 007, aren't they?

Izzie/Connie/Meredith: No one's calling you 007.

George: I was on the elevator and Murphy whispered 007.

Cristina: Oh, how many times do we have go through this, George, five, ten? Give me a number or else I'm going to hit you.

George: Murphy whispered 007 and everyone laughed.

Izzie: He wasn't talking about you.

George: You sure?

Meredith: Would we lie to you?

George: Yes.

Cristina: 007 is a state of mind.

George: So says the girl who finished top of her class at Stanford.

(Pagers beep. Connie looks at her pager and runs off.)

Meredith: Oh man. It's 911 for Katie Bryce. I gotta go. (takes off at a run)

George: Maybe I should've gone into geriatrics. No one minds when you kill an old person.

Cristina: Surgery is hot, it's the Marines, it's the macho, it's hostile, it's hardcore. Geriatrics is for freaks who live with their mothers and never have sex.

George: I've got to get my own place.

***

(Cut to Meredith and Connie running to Katie. She goes in, Katie's reading a magazine.)

Katie: Took you both long enough.

Meredith: You're okay? The nurse paged me 911.

Katie: I had to go all Exorcist to get her to even pick up the phone.

Connie: Wait. There's nothing wrong with you?

Katie: I'm bored.

Meredith: You little...I'm not a cruise director.

Katie: You don't have to wig out. The pageant's supposed to be on cable, but this crappy hospital doesn't get the channel. If that cow Kylie Wood is gonna walk off with my crown, I have to see it. Can you call someone?

Connie: Okay. This is an actual hospital. There are sick people here. Go to sleep, and stop wasting my time.

Katie: But I can't sleep. My head's all full.

Meredith: That's called thinking. Go with it.

***

(Cut to Bailey, collapsed on a stretcher in a hallway. Izzie is standing nearby, looking uncertain.)

Nurse: What do you need?

Izzie: Mr Jones has junkie veins and he really needs antibiotics so I should start a central line.

Nurse: So start one. (Pause.) You don't know how.

Izzie: I've never done one.

Nurse: Well, you know what that means. (looks to Bailey)

Izzie: Can't we just...page someone else?

Nurse: She's the on-call resident.

Izzie: Okay. Okay, I'll just - I'll wake her. (walks over, taps Bailey's shoulder) Dr Bailey, I don't mean to bother you, but -

Bailey: Then don't.

Izzie: It's Mr. Jones.

Bailey: Is he dying?

Izzie: No.

Bailey: Then stop talking to me.

(Izzie turns away, turns back. Bailey gives up on sleep and sits up.)

Bailey: What is it?

***

(Cut to Bailey finishing up with the central line.)

Bailey: Next time you wake me, he better be so close to dead there's a tag on his toe.

***

(Cut to the city going from night to day. Several shits of Cristina/George/Izzie looking overworked.)

Alex Karev (male intern): 4B's got post-op pneumonia. Let's start antibiotics.

Nurse: Are you sure that's the right diagnosis?

Karev: Well I don't know, I'm only an intern. Here's an idea, why don't you go spend four years in med school and let me know if it's the right diagnosis. She's short of breath, she's got fever, she's post-op. Start the antibiotics. (walks over to Meredith and Connie) God I hate nurses. I'm Alex. I'm with Jeremy, you're with the nazi, right?

Meredith: She may not have pneumonia, you know. She could be splinting, or have a PE.

Karev: Like I said, I hate nurses.

Meredith: What did you just say? Did you just call me a nurse?

Karev: Well, if the white cap fits...

Connie: Dick.

(Meredith's and Connie's pagers beeps and she walks away.)

Meredith: Damnit, Katie... (not running this time)

(Connie takes off running)

Karev: She seeing anybody?

George: I don't know.

Karev: (whistles) She's hot.

George: I'm friends with her. I mean, kinda friends, I mean, not, you know, actually friends, not exactly, but we're tight. We hang out. I mean, really only just today -

Karev: Dude.

George: - but -

Karev: Dude. Stop talking.

***

(Cut to Meredith, walking up the stairs to Katie. She's not in a hurry. She sees nurses rushing into the room and starts to run. Connie is already in there, giving out orders.)

Nurse 1 (echoey voice): What took you so long?

Nurse 2 (echoey voice): She's having multiple grand mal seizures, now how do you want to proceed? Dr. Grey? Dr. Sloan? Are you listening to me? She's got Diazepam, 2mg Diazepam, I just gave her a second ago, Dr. Grey, Dr. Sloan, you need to tell us what you want to do. Dr Grey! Dr. Sloan!

(Connie sees Meredith is panicking. She picks up the chart and voices stop sounding echoey.)

Connie: Okay, she's full on Prazepam?

Nurse 1: She's had 4mg.

Connie: Did you page Dr. Bailey and Dr Shepherd?

Nurse 2: The Prazepam's not working.

Connie: Phenobarbital, load her with Phenobarbital.

Nurse 2: Pheno's in.

Nurse 3: No change.

Meredith: You paged Dr. Shepherd?

Nurse 3: I just told you.

Meredith: Well page him again! Stat.

Nurse 2: What do you want to do? (back to echoey voice) Dr. Grey, Dr. Sloan, you need to tell us what you want to do!

(Beeping.)

Nurse 2: Heart's stopped!

Nurse 1: Code blue, code blue! Code blue, code blue!

(They pull out the defibrillators. Connie takes them.)

Connie: Charge pulse of two hundred.

Nurse: Charged. Clear.

(Connie defibs)

Nurse 2: Still defib. Nothing.

Nurse 1: Charging. 19 seconds.

Meredith: Charge to 300.

Nurse 1: 300. Anything? 27 seconds.

Meredith: Charge to 360. (still nothing) Come on, Katie.

Nurse 3: 49 seconds.

Nurse 2: At 60 seconds you're supposed to admit her -

Meredith: Charge again! (nurse doesn't) Charge again. (nurse does, we see Katie's BP register) Anything?

Nurse 1: I see sinus rhythm.

Nurse 2: Blood pressure's coming up.

Nurse 1: All right now. Pressure's returning. Grid's coming back...

(Shepherd runs in.)

Derek: What the hell happened?

Meredith: She had a seizure, and -

Derek: A seizure?

Connie: her heart stopped.

Derek: You were supposed to be monitoring her.

Meredith: I checked on her and she -

Derek: I got it. Just - just - go. (Meredith turns away) Someone give me her chart, please?

***

(Cut to Meredith and Connie walking towards Bailey.)

Bailey: You get a 911, you page me immediately, not in the five minutes it takes you to get to the emergency, immediately, you are on my team and if somebody dies it's my ass, (Meredith and Connie are walking away) you hear me, Grey? Sloan?

Cristina: Connie? Meredith, what's wrong with little Sloan?

(Connie walks outside into the rain, Cristina and Meredith follows. Connie throws up on the grass; Cristina and Meredith has stopped at the door.)

Connie: If you tell anyone, ever... (re-enters hospital).

***

(More cityscape and sunrise)

Katie's father: (to Derek) You said it was a seizure disorder. Now you're saying it isn't?

Derek: I'm saying that I don't know.

Mother: Well, what do you think it could be?

Derek: I don't know.

Father: (frustrated) When will you know?

Derek: I don't have an answer for you. For now, Katie is stable -

Father: Wait one damn minute. We came here because this hospital is supposed to be the best in Washington. That's my kid in there. My kid. And you have the audacity to stand here and tell me I don't know?

Derek: Mr. Bryce, -

Father: No, I want someone else. A doctor who knows what they're doing. You get me someone else. Someone better than you.

Derek: Mr Bryce, I assure you that I am working hard on Katie's case.

Father: No, you're not. If you were, you'd be able to give me some answers.

***

(Cut to Burke, talking to the guy who can't eat any more bacon.)

Burke: I put you on a bypass machine, which pumps blood for your heart, fix your ticker, take you off the machine, I'm done. Simple procedure.

Woman: So, I shouldn't worry?

Burke: I'm very good at what I do. It's still a surgery. There are some risks. I'll see you in the OR this afternoon, Mr. Savage.

Mr Savage: You're not going to leave me in there alone with that guy, are you?

George: Oh, I'll be outside the OR the whole time. Dr Burke is very good. Don't worry. I'll see you after.

Mrs. Savage: He'll be fine, right?

George: It's one he's going to sail through. You have nothing to worry about. I promise. Gotta go.

***

(Cut to Cristina, Connie, and Meredith.)

Meredith: What are you doing?

Cristina: I'm suturing a banana, with the vain hope that it wakes up my brain.

(George laughs.)

Cristina: What're you smiling at, 007?

(George stops laughing.)

Cristina: I'm sorry, I get mean when I'm tired.

George: You know what? I don't care. I comforted a family, and I get to hang out in the OR today. All is well.

Connie: Does anybody know why we're here? (lots of interns, packed into one room. Derek enters.)

Derek: Well good morning. I'm going to do something pretty rare for a surgeon, I'm going to ask interns for help. I've got this kid, Katie Bryce. Right now, she's a mystery. She doesn't respond to her meds. Labs are clean, scans are pure, but she's having seizures. Grand mal seizures with no visible cause. She's a ticking clock. She's going to die, if I don't make a diagnosis. Which is where you come in. I can't do it alone. I need your extra minds, extra eyes, I need you to play detective, I need you to find out why Katie is having seizures. I know you're tired, you're busy, you've got more work than you could possibly handle. I understand. So, I'm going to give you an incentive. Whoever finds the answer rides with me. Katie needs surgery. You get to do what no interns get to do. Scrub in to assist on an advanced procedure. Dr Bailey's going to hand you Katie's chart. The clock is ticking fast, people. If we're going to save Katie's life, we have to do it soon.

(All interns grab copies of her chart.)

***

(Cut to Connie, Meredith, and Alex.)

Alex: Look, give the antibiotics time to work.

Nurse: The antibiotics should've worked by now.

Alex: She's old, she's freaking ancient. She's lucky she's still breathing. Now, I got a shot to scrub in downstairs and a patient who wasn't alive during the civil war. Don't page me again. (walks off, Cristina comes over)

Cristina: Hey, I want in on Shepherd's surgery. You've been the interns on Katie since the start. You want to work together? We find the answer, we have a fifty-fifty chance of scrubbing in.

Meredith: I'll work with you, but I don't want in on the surgery. You can have it.

Connie: I don't want it either.

Cristina: Are you kidding me? It's the biggest opportunity any intern will ever get.

Meredith: I don't want to spend any more time with Shepherd than I have to.

Connie: What do you have against Shepherd?

Meredith: If we find the answer, the surgery's yours. Do you want to work together or not?

Cristina: (grinning and shaking her head) Deal.

***

(Cut to library.)

Cristina: Well, she doesn't have anoxia, chronic renal failure or acidosis. It's not a tumour because her CT's clean. Are you seriously not going to tell me why you won't work with Shepherd?

Meredith: No.

Connie: No. What about infection?

Cristina: No. There's no white count, she has no ceteal lesions, no fevers, nothing in her spinal tap, just tell me.

Meredith: You can't comment, make a face, or react in any way. We had sex.

(Cristina opens her mouth, closes it, and Connie looks away from them)

Cristina: What about an aneurysm?

Meredith: No blood on the CT, and no headaches.

Cristina: Okay. There's no drug use, uh, no pregnancy, no trauma...was he good? I mean, he looks like he would be, was it any good?

Meredith: What are the answers? What if no one comes up with anything?

Connie: You mean if she dies?

Meredith: Yeah.

Cristina: This is gonna sound really bad, but I really wanted that surgery.

Meredith: She's just never going to get the chance to turn into a person. The sum total of her existence will be almost winning Miss Teen whatever. You know what her pageant talent is?

Cristina: They have talent?

Connie: Rhythmic gymnastics. (they laugh)

Cristina: Oh, come on.

Connie: What is rhythmic gymnastics? I don't know - I can't even say it, I don't know what it is.

Cristina: Isn't it like something with a ball, and a (Connie goes still) ...what?

Meredith: Connie, what?

Connie: Get up! Come on!

***

(Cut to them running.)

Cristina: - the only thing she could possibly need is a - Oh, oh, Dr. Sheperd! Just one moment, um, uh, Katie competes in beauty pageants -

Derek: I know that, but we have to save her life anyway.

Connie: Okay, she has no headaches, no neck pain, her CT's clean, there's no medical proof of an aneurysm -

Derek: Right.

Connie: - but what if she has an aneurysm anyway?

Derek: There are no indicators.

Connie: Ah, but she twisted her ankle, a few weeks ago when she was practising for the pageant -

Derek: Look, I appreciate you're trying to help, but -

Other doctor in elevator: This is not helping!

Meredith: She fell. When she twisted her ankle, she fell.

Cristina: It was no big deal, not even a bump on the head, you know she got right back up, iced her ankle and everything was fine, it was a fall so minor her doctor didn't even think to mention it when I was taking her history, but she did fall.

Derek: Well, you know the chances that a minor fall could burst an aneurysm, one in a million! Literally.

(The elevator door is finally allowed to close. Meredith, Connie, and Cristina sigh and turn away. The elevator dings and Derek steps out. They turn back.)

Derek: Let's go.

Cristina: Where?

Derek: To find out if Katie's one in a million.

***

(Cut to Cristina, Meredith, Connie, and Derek looking at a scan.)

Derek: I'll be damned.

Tech operating scan: (indicating dark spots) There it is.

Derek: It's minor, but it's there. It's a cerebachnoid haemorrhage. She's bleeding into her brain.

***

(Cut to Meredith, Derek, Connie and Cristina walking.)

Derek: She could've gone her entire life without it ever being a problem. One tap in the right spot -

Cristina: And explode.

Derek: Exactly. Now I have to fix it. You three did great work. Love to stay and kiss your asses, but I gotta tell Katie's parents she's having surgery. Katie Bryce's chart, please.

Receptionist: Here you go.

Cristina: Oh, and Dr Sheppard, you said that you'd pick someone to scrub in if we helped.

Derek: Oh, yes, right. Um, I'm sorry I can't take you all, it's going to be a full house. Meredith, I'll see you in OR.

(They stand there for a moment or two. Cristina looks at Meredith, who's flustered.)

Derek: Good. Thank you. (leaves)

(Cristina looks back at Meredith and walks off, clearly pissed. Connie walks after Cristina.)

Meredith: Cristina...

***

(Cut to George watching bacon-man's surgery. It finishes, Burke leaves.)

George: Wow, that was quick.

Burke: His heart had too much damage to give him a bypass. I had to let him go. It happens, rarely. But it does happen. The worst part of the game.

George: But I told his wi- I told Gloria that he would be fine. I promised her that -

Burke: You what?

George: They have four little girls -

Burke: Who the hell are you to promise anything on - this is my case. Did you hear me promise? The only one that can keep a promise like that is God, and I haven't seen him holding a scalpel lately. You never promise a patient's family a good outcome!

George: I - I thought -

Burke: You're important enough to make promises to Mrs. Savage, you get to be the one to tell her that she's a widow.

***

(Cut to Izzie, Connie, and Cristina, sitting on the spare beds in the empty corridor again.)

Cristina: Izzie.

Izzie: Maybe Meredith couldn't -

Connie: Izzie!

(Meredith comes in.)

Meredith: I'll tell him I changed my mind, you can -

Cristina: No, no, don't do me any favours. It's fine.

Meredith: Cristina, -

Cristina: You know what, you did a cutthroat thing, deal with it. Don't come to me for absolution, you want to be a shark, be a shark.

Meredith: I'm not -

Cristina: Oh yes you are. Only it makes you feel all bad in your warm gooey places. No, screw you. I don't get picked for surgeries because I slept with my boss, and I didn't get into med school because I have a famous mother. You know, some of us have to earn what we get.

(Meredith leaves.)

***

(Cut to George going to see Mrs. Savage.)

George: Gloria...there were complications in the surgery. Tony's heart had a, a lot of damage. They - we tried to take him off bypass, but...there wasn't anything we could've done.

Gloria: Uh...what are you talking about?

George: He...Tony died. He's dead. Gloria, I'm so sorry.

Gloria: (whispered) Thank you. Please...go away.

(He does. We hear her crying.)

***

(Cut to Derek shaving Katie's head while Meredith looks on.)

Derek: I promised I'd make her look cool. Apparently being a bald beauty queen is the worst thing that happened in the history of the world.

Meredith: Did you choose me for the surgery because I slept with you?

Derek: (straight-faced) Yes. (pregnant pause) I'm kidding.

Meredith: I'm not going to scrub in for surgery. You should ask Cristina. She really wants it.

Derek: You're Katie's doctor. And on your first day, with very little training, you helped save her life. You earned the right to follow her case to the finish. You...you shouldn't let the fact that we had sex get in the way of you taking your shot. And one of the reasons why I didn't pick Connie Sloan, I promised her father that I would look after her until he comes to here next week. And Connie didn't look well enough to do surgery.

***

(Cut to George and Meredith sitting outside.)

Meredith: I wish I wanted to be a chef. Or a ski instructor. Or a kindergarten teacher.

George: You know, I would've been a really good postal worker. I'm dependable. You know, my parents tell everyone they meet that their son's a surgeon. As if it's a big accomplishment. A superhero or something. If they could see me now...

Meredith: When I told my mother I wanted to go to medical school, she tried to talk me out of it. Said I didn't have what it takes to be a surgeon. That I'd never make it. So, the way I see it, superhero sounds pretty damn good.

George: We're going to survive this, right?

***

(Cut to Dr Webber (head of the hospital) talking to Alex.)

Webber: She's still short of breath. Did you get an ABG or a chest film?

Alex: Oh, yes sir, I did.

Webber: And what did you see?

Alex: Oh, well, I had a lot of patients last -

Webber: Name the common causes of post-op fever.

Alex: Uh...yes, sir. (pulls notebook out of pocket)

Webber: From your head. Not from a book. Don't look it up, learn it, it should be in your head. Name the common causes of post-op fever.

Alex: Uh...the common causes of post-op...

Webber: (loudly) Can anybody name the common causes of post-op fever?

(Everybody stops, one girl pulls out her notebook.)

Connie: Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs. The five Ws. Most of the time it's wind, splinting or pneumonia. Pneumonia's easy to assume, especially if you're too busy to do the tests.

Webber: (gives Alex a pointed look, then to Connie) What do you think's wrong with 4B?

Connie: The fourth W, walking. I think she's a prime candidate for a pulmonary ambulus.

Webber: How would you diagnose?

Connie: Spiral CT, VQ scan, provide O2, dose with Heparin, and consult for an IVC filter.

Webber: (to Alex) Do exactly as she says, then tell your resident that I want you off this case. (to Connie) Welcome to the game.

***

(Cut to Katie's surgery. Meredith is there.)

Derek: All right everybody, it's a beautiful night to save lives, let's have some fun.

Meredith voiceover: I can't think of any one reason why I want to be a surgeon. But I can think of a thousand reasons why I should quit.

***

(Cut to Bailey sleeping and Izzie walking towards her again.)

Meredith VO: They make it hard on purpose. There are lives in our hands.

***

(Cut to the surgery.)

Meredith VO: There comes a moment when it's more than just a game. And you either take that step forward, or turn around and walk away. (Cristina is seen watching from the gallery. Sheperd waves Meredith over to look through the magnifiers at what's happening.) I could quit. But here's the thing: I love the playing field.

(Fade to Meredith sitting outside the OR, dazed. Cristina walks through the door and turns back.)

Cristina: It was a good surgery.

Meredith: Yeah.

(Cristina sits and sighs.)

Cristina: We don't have to do that thing where I say something, and then you say something, and then somebody cries, and there's like a moment...

Meredith: Yuck.

Cristina: Good. You should get some sleep. You look like crap.

Meredith: I look better than you.

Cristina: It's not possible. (leaves)

(Derek comes through the same door, stops at a desk to do some paperwork. Meredith stares at him, still looking dazed.)

Meredith: That was amazing.

Derek: Mmmm.

Meredith: You practice on cadavers, you observe, and you think you know what you're going to feel like standing over that table, but...that was such a high.

(Derek looks at her properly now and nods.)

Meredith: I don't know why anybody does drugs.

Derek: (nodding slightly, looking tired) Yeah.

Meredith: (smiling) Yeah.

Derek: (smiling back a bit) I should go do this.

Meredith: You should.

Derek: (going) I'll see you around.

Meredith: See you around. See ya.

***

(Cut to outside the hospital, we see Connie, Izzie, George, Cristina and Meredith walking to the parking lot.)

Meredith VO: So. I made it through my first shift. We all did. The other interns are all good people, you'd like them. I think. I don't know. (fade to Meredith running up stairs in the rain, under an umbrella) Maybe. I like them. (She enters a building, reception waves her on) Oh, and I changed my mind. (Close-up on an older woman). I'm not going to sell the house. I'm going to keep it. I'll have to get a couple of roommates, but (we see Meredith is talking to her) it's home, you know?

Older woman: Are you the doctor?

Meredith: No. I'm not your doctor. But I am a doctor.

Older woman: What's your name?

Meredith: It's me, mom. Meredith.

Ellis Grey: All right. (fidgets with her watch) I used to be a doctor, I think.

Meredith: (taking her hand) You were a doctor, mom. You were a surgeon.

(Slow zoom out and fade to black on the two.)

#grey's anatomy #mark sloan #miranda bailey #derek shepherd #alex karev #cristina yang #izzie stevens #george o'malley #meredith grey #connie sloan #constance sloan #addison montgomery

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