See Me
By gillian0809
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to ABC and Master Shonda.
How did she get here, Cristina didn't know. Her brain is going through a million things right now: Owen, Owen's ex-fiancé, daddy, Derek's proposing to Mer, and more Owen. Why are things so complicated? What happened to simple and easy? And here she is, over the vent, trying to figure out what to do next.
Owen opened up to her few hours ago. Telling her to see the real him, the person that was not the same before the war. The person who would have married that shiny perfect blonde is gone. Now he is dark and twisty. And sexy, and flirting with her. What the hell is going on?
Yes he seems fine on the outside but she knows more. She always knows more. From one look she can tell he's not ok. When he is bothered by his past demons, she can see it through the perfect disguise of shinny boy outside. He trusts her that much to tell her what he fears. Just as the night in the on-call room when Cristina tells him the story of her father. She never talked about him to anyone, not even Mer. Cristina would come to Owen's rescue, letting him to hug her for comfort in sleep, reaching out to him when he needs comfort. Likewise he would be there for her too. The night he picked her up so easily on the floor, with that stupid icicle in her chest. Or the day he sensed her tears and cheered her up on the vent.
Now things are complicated. It was complicated when the moment his lips touched her. Intensified electricity flows through two joined person. They both know what they want – a touch to another person. Yet the dark and twisty Owen is here now. She knew the Owen before was handsome and sexy as hell – for a one night stand, but this Owen is the one she wants to stay with, and be there for him.
A year ago that could have been Cristina herself. The soulless, perfect robot. She walked and dragged herself through what was left from the almost-marriage. Residents and nurses talked of course, after all this is Seattle Grace. She was glad to have her friends there. They sheltered her away from most of the harmful gossips and rumors that would break her. Once she walked into the hall seeing evil-spawn almost hit another resident talking about her. She was thankful, as much as she hates to be weak.
After Cristina moved in with Callie, she got more time to think without Burke's influence. She has changed. And she thanked Burke for that. She started to care more about the patients, spending more time to understand them and their habits which can be useful in saving their lives. She told herself that she can and will become a better surgeon. She is always hardcore about the cardio, until she admitted to Owen that she knew nothing but Cardio – and that day she lost a patient because she couldn't do a proper stitch.
Owen's presence reminds Cristina that a doctor should exhaust all her knowledge to save a patient. Now she is doing all she knows to comfort Owen. To see the real him. But she can't take it anymore. So she comes down to the vent – to clear her head, to see what to do next. Seeing Owen's ex-fiancé is too much, his actions to Beth trigger the haunted memories of her own wedding. The pain and confusion that Burke gave her when he left that alter. The hopelessness she felt.
Overwhelmed emotions lead to her tears falling down. It's ok. No one needs to see me like this. No one needs to know. With the vent's forceful air shooting up along her back, Cristina was lost in her world, seeing events in the past flying across her closed eyes, feeling the emotions rising through her body, and finally letting them go through her tears.
As Cristina loses herself in her world, head thrown back and tears flowing, she misses a red-headed tall figure who silently enters the room. The figure has been standing there for quite sometime, studying the scene in front of him – the real Cristina that she always keeps in check. The same Cristina that can quiver under his lips, or smiles and beams towards his direction. The figure steps into the faint light of the room and calls out her name.
"Cristina."
Cristina opens her teary eyes and looks towards the figure with blue electrifying eyes. She is not surprised to see the intruder.
"I see you Owen, now I want you to see me."
End
Author's note: I hope you like this little fic. Please read and review! Happy Valentine's Day!
Author's note 2: Thanks for the comments that pointed out a cohesion problem in the middle. I've completely missed it! I made the changes and hopefully it sounds better now.