[10x01/10x02]

Jo was walking through the deserted hallways. She and her fellow interns had just returned from their salvaging trip on the mountainside. Her limbs felt heavy as lead, she could feel the dirt and excoriations everywhere. Her eyes were burning, from the dust, from the salty winds, from the bright rescue lights, from trying to make out people buried in the dirt, from exhaustion. She felt like she had been up for what… days and days. What had happened hours ago seemed like weeks. She turned on the steaming hot water in one of the shower cubicles of the interns' locker rooms and got undressed. The first drop of clean water that hit her body felt like relief washing over her. It had only been 3 nights ago that she had still been seeing Jason. That they had fought, that it had escalated. It had only been 3 nights since she had run into Alex's arms for safety and shelter. 3 nights since they had made up. How could she have been so stupid? Pushing the one person away that was there for her all along. The one person that actually got her. The one person that was there for her, unconditionally it seemed. The storm, hundreds of injured people flooding their E.R., Heather dying. Dr. Webber hanging on to dear life. Alex telling her he loved her. His safe arms around her, holding her tight. His lips on hers. Jo's heart threatened to burst with emotions. People running around helplessly, frightened, homeless, injured – thousands of people hurt by a nature caused catastrophe. Stephanie rocking her hysterical cheerleading routine. People mourning their friends, their families. Shane ceasing to talk, spiraling down in some kind of stupor, not letting anyone in.

BANG- "Jo, are you gonna be done at some point?" Leah's voice ripped through Jo's eardrums like a knife.

"Geez, get a grip," Jo replied softly, finding herself sitting on the shower floor, still sprinkling herself with hot water, trying not to doze off, her mind full with that one long day that wouldn't end. Getting up and quickly spreading soap over her body and hair, she got a grip on herself. She needed to find Alex. All she needed to hear right now were his soothing words, was his strong, confident voice. All she needed to feel were his arms wrapped around her. She needed him. With a sigh she got out of the shower, making room for a nearly sleeping, still super annoying Leah who was on a rant about working hours in this hospital. Oh shut up, will you? Jo felt like everything she did and everything around her happened in slow motion. She got clean clothes to wear out of her locker and left the room to find Alex. Seeing he wasn't in any of the nurses' stations, the makeshift E.R. or the NICU, without thinking much about the consequences she stopped by Dr. Grey's room, which was dark. Again. Halfway turning around, she heard Grey's voice, stopping, not knowing if she was actually talking to her.

"What's up, Wilson?" her superior's voice came out of the dark.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Grey, I didn't mean to wake you. Again," Jo halfheartedly said, "I was…"

"Looking for Alex?" Another voice joined the conversation. Jo scrunched up her face. The lights went on and she spotted Dr. Yang sitting besides Dr. Grey's bed.

"I thought I saw you leave hours ago?" Jo asked without thinking.

"Well, I saw you leave hours ago in an ambulance as well," Yang responded lazily. "How did that go?"

"Uh, well, it was fine. There's still a lot of people out there. We couldn't do much, though, we're no fire fighters. Leah and I came back with a family with newborns, trying to get them aided. Steph and Shane are still out there. As far as I know," Jo slowly recalled, trying for her eyes to not close.

"Well, you should go get some sleep, hairball," Yang ordered, having followed Jo's story very closely. "We all had a rough couple of nights." Dr. Grey shot a questioning look around to her friend who ignored her blissfully. Jo was just going to leave the doorstep she was still hovering on, when she caught another glimpse of Dr. Yang's words. "Alex is asleep in the on-call room on 3, you know," she said with a wide grin, ignoring Grey's raised eyebrows. Jo tried as hard as she could to give her superior a death glare before slowly turning around, heading to where she expected her boyfriend to be. Boyfriend. This was too much. She hadn't even taken a step back to digest what had happened between her and Alex before. She had been so mad at him. So mad… for…. for… being the most wonderful support she has ever had in her life… She had been mad at the world for her stupid ass boyfriend Jason who she had judged oh so wrong and who she hadn't even liked that much for that matter. Of course he had attracted her but then… he wasn't all that interesting. He didn't excite her. He didn't make her laugh. Not like Alex did. She should have known all along. She should have for once listened to what her guts told her, every freaking time she was dealing with Alex. She never felt like he was a brother to her. She had never believed it was gross to think about them doing it. She had always liked him and felt attracted to him. Except for she hadn't. She hadn't realized it because in true Jo fashion, she had ignored the feelings so diligently, that she couldn't make them out for herself until they were thrown back in her face. Until he was there for her when she needed him. Until that freaking tree came trashing down Alex's living room. Tree! What else had there been that night? Of course she was in love with Alex. How had she not seen that before? She chuckled quietly about her own stupidity. Slowly and quietly, Jo opened the door to the on-call room. The dim light from the hallway shone in through the small gap of the open door, letting her spot Alex's sleeping shape on the bottom bunk of the room. Somebody else was sleeping on the top bunk. She hesitated shortly on the doorstep, observing her boyfriend's rising and falling chest. It calmed her to watch him sleep. She should get into bed with him and just sleep it out. No. She was an intern. She was in love with an attending. She couldn't just climb into an on-call room bed with him and stay there. This was not something she would do. Could do. She hesitated some more. Why shouldn't she? It was her Alex, not some attending. Okay, he was, but he was her attending, right? He was all hers. Oh, whatever, Jo, just do something. Don't make a fool of yourself. Deciding to leave him for that night, she stepped out of the room and closed the door gently. Still not knowing what to do with herself, she carried herself back to the locker room.

"There you are," Stephanie exclaimed, her voice too loud for Jo's tired mind. "What's up with you? Where did you wander off to?"

"Oh, nowhere really," Jo lay down on one of the benches, trying to get some sleep. "I'm just so exhausted."

"Yeah, aren't we all," Stephanie responded, trying to get a clean shirt over her face while not trying to fall asleep. Minutes passed, the locker room was completely quiet except for the one or other rustle caused by Steph.

"So," the just mentioned intern started, startling Jo awake again. "I saw Jason in the ICU this morning," Stephanie continued. Jo just lay there on the bench, arms resting on her forehead, staring at the ceiling. What was she supposed to say? He had done that to himself. Well, she had. But he had provoked her. Ugh.

"Yeah, I figured," Jo just responded quietly, not moving from her place.

"You figured I saw him or you figured he must have been brought in?" Stephanie asked slowly.

"I figured you must have seen him by now," Jo answered, still not looking at her flabbergasted intern friend.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's up with that? And while you're at it, maybe explain your face, too?" Stephanie was getting agitated, Jo could feel her fidgeting.

"I'm tired, Steph, I really, really don't wanna talk about it," she tried.

"Really? You think that is something that just cannot be talked about?" Jo nodded. "Well, you are wrong. Spit."

Jo sighed in defeat. "We got in a fight," she started. "It got really bad," pointing at her still sore bruising which- before that conversation- had long been forgotten. "It escalated," Jo tried to explain but she was exhausted and couldn't think anymore. Also, she was tired of explaining herself.

"What did you guys fight about?"

"Um… Alex mostly. I mean, not really. Mostly about me lying about how I grew up, you know," Jo was hoping she didn't have to say much more.

"Why Alex?" Stephanie pressed on. Jo rolled her eyes at her.

"Because I had told Alex about my childhood before, whereas I hadn't exactly told Jason," she sighed heavily.

"Why?" Stephanie exclaimed, not really thinking about the privacy of her friend. Jo looked at her in disbelief.

"Because! Alex has been my best friend for a long time. We talk about things." A sign of frustration creeped up in her voice. "I thought you'd understand," Jo finished.

"I do, I just wanna follow up. If I may remind you, compared to Mr. Alex, you don't tell me anything anymore," she tried to pout.

"Oh, stop it," Jo exclaimed, pretty worn out already from that conversation.

"So, is that why you've been talking to all of them? The attendings? Yang and Grey and Karev?"

"Um, yeah. I mean I obviously talked to Alex and um… they thought he nearly killed Jason."

"Why would he kill Jason?"

Jo looked up at Stephanie expectantly. She wouldn't have to mouth that out loud as well, would she? The other girl looked at her uncomprehendingly until finally her light bulb flickered.

"What? Oh no, he didn't? I mean, what? Is he in love with you? Is that why you guys have been at each other's throats? Because he's in love with you and jealous of Jason? OH MY GOD! Are you freaking serious? Well, way to go, Dr. Karev" she cheered, roaring with laughter, Jo all the while watching her friend with raised eyebrows. Calming down from her short high, Stephanie added, "What are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?" Jo asked, uncertain about what Stephanie was on about at the moment.

"I mean, what are you going to do about Karev?"

"Well, I already did," Jo said, sounding unconcerned.

"What do you mean, you already did? You took care of it?"

"Yes. I took care of it."

"God, Jo, English, please? Karev's in love with you and you act like you don't mind in the least. I mean… wait, what?" Stephanie's eyes were about to wobble out of her sockets, and she had stopped taking in breaths. Jo smiled at her friend and shook her head. "You don't mind him being in love with you?" Stephanie asked again, not believing the news she was hearing. Jo shook her head again. "Which means…. you are…," Stephanie looked up at the now standing Jo. "…in love with Karev?" Jo reluctantly nodded, turning away to hide her blush.

"But you had just been with Jason? I don't get it… I mean, what happened with you guys?"

"I don't know, he just… wasn't Alex," Jo whispered. "Not that I had realized that while I was still seeing him," she added quickly.

"So, what, are you guys… together now?"

"Yeah, we kinda are."

"Wow," Stephanie gulped. "What a night." Jo just nodded. What a night.

The two girls stayed silent for a while, just trying to digest what all they had talked about, all they had seen that day. After a while, Leah came into the locker room and quietly sat down besides them.

"We need to find something to occupy ourselves with," she stated without any emotion. She didn't actually refer that statement to anything much, however, the others knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Sleep?" Jo tried to distract from their obviously common mindsets. Leah winced.

"I tried that. Lying in the top bunk in one of the on-call rooms. That Dr. Taylor's snores function like a jackhammer, I swear. Not only the noise kept me awake but the whole bunk was rattling rhythmically with his terrifying sleep sounds," she concluded exasperatedly. The other two shared a friendly chuckle. "He should get himself looked at, seriously," she added.

"You know there is something we have all been trying to ignore that would occupy us pretty well," the incoming, completely mud stained Shane commented, easily joining the conversation for the first time in what had to have been hours.

"What's that?" Jo asked, surprised about the unannounced visit.

"Intern exams," Stephanie answered all of a sudden, putting her head down on her arms in playful sorrow.

"Aah, how could I have so blissfully forgotten about them?" Jo commented ruefully, regretting asking about the matter.

"We should be study buddies," Leah suggested seemingly motivated. "We could, you know, quiz each other, diagnose each other, fake being extra bitchy patients and practice bedside manners and stuff."

"You wouldn't need to fake the last bit," Stephanie remarked, earning a blow to her shoulder from Leah.

"What do you guys think?"

"I'm in," both Shane and Jo answered synchronically.

"Yeah, probably the best idea you've had in a while, Ms. Leah," Stephanie admitted.

"Well, where should we set up headquarters? I mean, I would say at my place but you know… with Heather gone…" she wandered back over to the topic they had been trying to avoid.

"Well, I'm a damn slob, so, no study hall at my place," Stephanie exclaimed quickly before everyone got stuck on the topic again.

"My place is too small for all of you guys. And also, it has only been introduced to slightly classier ladies, it wouldn't be comfortable with you settling there," Shane tried with a half-hearted grin. This got him a blow on the side from Leah and the threat of another one from Stephanie. "What?" he chuckled, raising his arms in defeat. They all came around to looking expectantly at Jo.

"Well, I don't have an apartment to offer at all," she exclaimed, earning surprised looks from Shane and Leah. Before they could get into this, she added, "how about we just go look for a quiet place here. I mean, Alex has mentioned the tunnels before… that's where 'all the interns hang out' apparently," she trailed off.

"Nah," Shane responded. "That's where Melvin and his guys hang out," he informed them, getting disdainful looks from the others. "Let's not mix with them. That never turns out well. Also, we need to beat them at our exams!" Shane got his competitive look on, one they haven't seen since the whole storm debacle and Heather's death rolled on to them. They chuckled.

"Well, how about we all go look for a private spot somewhere here in the hospital where we can go anytime when we have a few minutes to spare and until then, we just… do anywhere else. I mean you know, supply closets and the cafeteria." They all agreed on the plan and went their separate ways for that night.

After a good night's rest and too much time on her hands due to the chief's still lasting prescription of downtime for them after Heather's death, Jo had found the perfect spot to hang out and study for their exams. One of the patients' rooms way back on the peds ward that never got used because devices were outdated and the room was basically not fully accessible was their new hiding spot. Jo was sitting in the visitor's chair, while Stephanie was proudly presenting a case she had just cracked theoretically, lying on one of the kids' beds. She couldn't believe she still hadn't been able to get some alone time with Alex since the storm, other than the few moments of comfort he had given her after Heather's untimely death. They hadn't even met in passing while she was looking for a study spot – ON THE PEDS FLOOR. She could feel that she was getting impatient about their still brand new relationship. She just wanted to see him. Talk to him. Just for a minute, feel like this had not all been a dream. She had even spent her night all alone at his house. Well, no surprise there, since she had seen him sleep it off in that on-call room that she hadn't wanted to enter. Just don't panic. You'll both find the time to be with each other. Remember, he told you he loved you. Sighing dramatically she tried to listen to Steph's next question.

Hours later, Alex was just getting out of a patient's room after diagnosing him with severe pneumonia after an asthmatic attack which made the boy's parents panic and putting him on a bunch of meds and strict bed rest, he sat down at the nurses' station, putting his head in his hands. The sleep he got last night wasn't as satisfactory as he had wished for. His body had hurt of exhaustion and he was longing for Jo to come be with him after all those frantic E.R. happenings. After hours of tossing and turning in the uncomfortable on-call bed, he was called in again on an emergency surgery of one of the twin babies rescued out of the mudslide the day before. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep it off, preferably with Jo by his side. But he still needed to stay for another surgery and evening rounds. A soft pat on his back made Alex look up, hoping It would be Jo's hand.

"How nice it is to see you, too," Arizona hurtfully exclaimed at the look of Alex's disappointed face, pretending to be cheerful. "Seems like everybody is hating on me, now that I'm a public cheater," she wallowed in self-pity.

"Oh, shut up," Alex snapped irritated by his friend's childish behavior. "Nobody hates you. We all got our own problems."

Arizona looked at him wide-eyed, not expecting the refreshing honesty from him. "Walk with me?" she asked him, trying to keep the conversation going while thinking about her most urgent next patient. Alex got up, readying himself for getting to his surgery on time.

"You know, I was thinking we could go to couple's therapy," Arizona shared with Alex.

"M-hm," Alex acknowledged the thought.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I have no idea," Alex responded dismissively, still pondering about Jo and his upcoming surgery.

"Please, tell me what you think about that? I mean, you and Stevens obviously had problems, right? Did you ever go to couple's therapy?" Alex shot his colleague a deadly glare. "I'm sorry, I mean, I just… I don't know what else to do," Arizona stopped, tears pricking her eyes, making patients and parents attentive to their conversation. Alex sighed, taking her arm and pulling her in one of the unused patients' rooms at the end of the peds ward. Arizona sniffed noisily, letting herself get pulled away from the public.

"Look, I don't know what your deal is, I have no idea about couple's therapy, frankly, I don't care about couple's therapy. If you believe it to be a good idea, go talk to Callie about it since I am not the one you cheated on. But do me a favor and get a grip on yourself. You can't be running around the peds ward crying, remember, the makers of tiny humans will all believe it's because of their child," Alex tried to quickly and quietly sort out Arizona's troubles. His remarks only made her sob more. "Look," he gave Arizona's arm a squeeze. "Marriage is hard. Take it from a guy who didn't succeed at it. You go make it work, I know you guys can. Right now, Callie is crazy mad at you for messing up and terribly hurt because she trusted in your marriage, in you. But you will work on it and you guys will figure it out. Alright?" Arizona nodded. Being totally engrossed in their brief exchange, none of the two realized, they had walked in on the interns' study party. Shane cleared his throat politely to make them aware of their presence, even though it was too late to keep Arizona's privacy intact.

Alex and Arizona both turned on their heels quickly, facing the interns by surprise. "Oh," Arizona mouthed quite dumbfounded by the situation.

"We are so, so sorry for overhearing what you people talked about," Leah started to explain, trying to ignore Stephanie's elbow in her ribs. Arizona smiled, a little embarrassed by the whole situation, all the interns looking at her with wide eyes, and excused herself quickly.

"Meet me in the cafeteria after your surgery," she hastily told Alex before she swooped out the door. "I really can't get my butt in there all by myself," she half sobbed, half chuckled. Alex chuckled and closed the door behind her.

"What the hell are you guys doing in here?" he turned back to the interns, basically asking his girlfriend the question.

"We, uh, we are trying to study for our exams, which will be in a couple of weeks," Jo returned lamely, not explaining why they were occupying that exact room. Alex nodded slowly, questioningly.

"And you are in here because….?"

"Dr. Karev, we really tried finding another study spot, it's just, Dr. Perkins and his guys are occupying the tunnels and our private places are not suitable for so many people and everything else really is too public to be studying diligently," Shane rambled on in true Shane fashion, sucking up big time to the boss, trying to sound as thick as possible – at least that's what Jo thought. She rolled her eyes at this. Alex scrunched up his face and chuckled about how Ross talked to him that idiotically.

"Why don't you guys just go back to my house?" Alex returned to serious, looking at Jo, taking her by surprise.

"You wouldn't mind?" she asked unbelievingly.

"Nah, I'm in and out of surgery anyways, and the aftermath of the storm is nowhere near over. You'll score way better outcomes studying there than listening to the babies cry all day long on the peds ward. Plus there's food and beds. Or couches at least."

"What about the tree?"

Alex chuckled. "I had it removed. It's been 3 days, Jo, you really think I'm that irresponsible?" She smiled at him. The other interns were struck with awe. Did that jerk of an attending just offer them his house for studying? And what about all those looks going on between Jo and him? Shane and Leah looked at each other quizzically. Stephanie smiled knowingly.

"Alright then, I really need to go scrub for my surgery," he said halfway out the door. "Don't burn the house down while you're at it," he winked at his girlfriend. Jo quickly gave him one of her best smiles and mouthed a "thank you" towards her almost out the door boyfriend. He was already gone a few moments, when she noticed all her friends stare at her penetratingly. She wiped off her smile quickly and busied herself gathering all their books and cards.

"What?" she snapped.

"Are you sleeping with Karev?" Leah shouted out.

"No!" Jo responded quickly, already feeling a big blush coming down around her neck and cheeks. Shane and Leah began to laugh hysterically.

"Of course she is," Stephanie joined the party.

"Thank you for your support," Jo whispered pissed. "It's not like that," Jo said a little louder.

"Oh he is so gonna dump you, once there are new interns coming in… wait, about 2 weeks," Leah dramatically acted as if looking up a calendar. Jo got up.

"As I said, it's not like that." Leah looked at her disbelievingly, and then over to Stephanie who shrugged.

"So, you are in loooove?" she teased.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I am in love with Alex, I am sorry to tell you that this has nothing to do with sleeping around in the hospital or with my boss or new interns or whatever," Jo exclaimed a little too loud. She was agitated. She tried to calm herself down internally. Why did she get so irritated by her friends' teasing? She knew what this was all about… Maybe she just really needed to talk to Alex. She needed this to be true and established and… she just needed him. Realizing she had shut all of the others up by her exclamation and the room was filled with silence, she relaxed and said with fake impatience lacing her voice, "are you coming or what?"

Much later that night, Alex made his way home after a long and eventually successful surgery. Lights were still on in the living room, indicating the interns were still up. He unlocked the front door, hearing cheerful screams and playful teasing about wrongly diagnosed patients. He went inside, putting his stuff down, making the group look up at him from a makeshift study dorm as it looked like.

"Hey," Jo greeted him first with a gorgeous smile only she could master as beautifully.

"Hey," he smiled back. "Don't let me interfere your half hearted attempts of curing patients," he winked and made his way to the kitchen, where he took out a carton of milk from the fridge, emptying it. Jo had walked in behind him, standing next to the kitchen island, seemingly searching for words.

"How was your surgery?" she got out at last. He put the carton back in the fridge and stayed in his spot.

"Fine," he said. "I'm exhausted." She smiled at him again.

"You look it," she added. They both seemed a little embarrassed by their awkward exchange, knowing that the other interns were trying to listen in on them from the adjoining living room. "So, are you really fine with us studying here?" Jo said, trying to bridge the silence.

"Jo," Alex sighed heavily, moving towards the laundry room, her following behind. "I offered. Don't make me take it back, going on and on about it," he grinned slightly.

"Okay. I just wanted to check. I mean, we can find another spot, I'm sure, if it bothers you," Jo trailed off, stepping inside the dusty and dark laundry room, leaning on the washer with one hip while watching Alex gather up his washed and dried laundry.

"It doesn't bother me, now hush before I change my mind." This was easy. Well, it had always been easy with them. It was just, they hadn't really talked about what this was. About anything much, for that matter. They hadn't talked, or kissed or anything else. They hadn't seen each other, really, since… well, since they made their initial moves. Was she into him as well? Of course, she had to be, right? She had kissed him back. And she seemingly wanted to jump into bed with him right after. And she sought him up for comfort when her friend died. Yeah, she had to be into him as well.

"So, did you hire someone to clean up the living room?" Jo interrupted his mind monologue.

"Yeah," he said, picking up the last of his clean clothes. "Doesn't look like I did it, does it?" They chuckled.

"There's pizza if you want," Jo offered, not wanting the conversation to cease yet, however, seeing him head back into the kitchen, almost passing her already.

"Thanks. I had dinner with Robbins, though," he said.

"Oh, yeah, that," she said. He seemed like he didn't wanna be near her, right? He would have kissed her or looked at her for that matter, right? Jo was trying to fight her doubts down.

"How is she?" Alex looked up at her, distracted by how beautiful she looked, casually leaning against the washer.

"Um," he coughed out, "she'll be fine. I mean, they'll be fine. They'll figure it out." He stated, not so much interested in talking other couples with his girlfriend, but anxious to get their own relationship going. He walked back to the kitchen, passing her on his way, smelling her sweet scent. Stay focused; there are interns in your house. Not only your intern. Oh, what the hell, why would they care, right? He put his laundry on the kitchen table, spinning on his heel to go back to his girlfriend, who looked at him wide eyed.

"What?" she asked innocently, not getting the drift. He chuckled mildly about his dumb little girlfriend. He swooped down the couple of steps into the laundry room again, brought her close and kissed her, softly. Jo was taken aback by this sudden show of affection but reciprocated the kiss. It was sweet, longing, but not too deep. She could feel his muscled torso, his arms around her, smell his unmistakable scent, feel his soft lips on hers. She moaned quietly into his mouth. They parted reluctantly, their faces only inches apart, resting their foreheads together, his arms encircling her waist, her arms resting on his chest.

"I'll be sleeping soon," Alex whispered softly, trying to hide a small yawn. Jo smiled and nodded, looking up at his dreamy eyes.

"We'll be up another while," she whispered back. She traced one more circle with her thumbs on his chest before taking his face into her hands. "Thanks for being so supportive," she said. He smiled, pulling her close one more time and matching her perfect lips to his. It was only a short peck, but it was sweet. He let go of her, turned around, picked up his clothes and left the kitchen towards the stairs. "Good night," Jo called after him, still put in trance by their short encounter. She had put her right hand on her mouth to savor their kiss for a second longer, before pulling her mind back to reality and joining the others back in the living room.

The next few days would pass irritatingly slow. Jo and Alex only met a couple of times, passing in the hallways, no time for any more words or kisses to exchange. The interns spent most of their spare time at Alex's house, which got a little awkward sometimes when Dr. Yang showed up, which the other interns weren't quite as used to as Jo was. Jo felt like she had to have been seeing Dr. Yang more often than her boyfriend. He only came home to sleep three or four hours, never at the same time as she was at the house to sleep. At least, she never realized when he was there. Slowly, but surely, she became very frustrated with how thing were left between them. She needed to be with him, NOW.