Title: Of Lectures, Spawns & Encounters
Author: loozy
Rating: K
Summary: Never did he think that he would be here, in this situation.Well, he knew that he would attend conferences that would place them in the same convention centre, or that they would meet for consults, they were the best of their proficiencies after all, but seriously, he never ever would have thought that he would attend a lecture led by her and one of his former interns.
Pairings: Alex/ Izzie, Derek/ Meredith, hints of George/ Lexie, George/ Olivia, Cristina/ Hunt, Cristina/ Burke, Addison/ Pete
Category: Grey's Anatomy/ Private Practice- slight crossover
Disclaimer: Neither Grey's Anatomy nor Private Practice belong to me, but to Shonda. Unfortunately.
A/N: Unbeta-ed. So feel free to rip this to pieces, but please stay constructive in your criticism. I really hope that you like it :)
Never did he think that he would be here, in this situation. Well, he knew that he would attend conferences that would place them in the same convention centre, or that they would meet for consults, they were the best of their proficiencies after all, but seriously, he never ever would have thought that he would attend a lecture led by her and one of his former interns.
And he also never would have thought that she would be that successful, to turn away said former intern from the niche that he had believed himself to be the right one, and make him into who he is now, an attending in his first year and already the head of the OB/GYN- section of Seattle Grace Hospital.
He doubted that anybody had thought this at the beginning of Karev's internship, that he would turn out to be the brightest of the whole bunch, even beating Torres' famed score in the intern- exam by 10 points, beaten Cristina Yang, which had gnawed at the determined woman like nothing else. Or that he would actually turn towards OB/GYN even after Addison left. Or that he would actually also thrive under the surprising tutelage of Derek, who had discovered that Karev was not only very good in the vagina- squad, but also knew his way around in a brain, especially in a baby's. And now Karev, the dark horse of Bailey's dramatic bunch of interns, Evil Spawn, was one of only a few neuro- neo- natal experts in the States.
No- one had been more surprised than Mark to find his name besides Addison's on the programme, and even though the procedure of detecting, discovering and working on fetus' brain tumour had nothing to do with plastics, this was something that he would not miss. Forget about the plastics- lecture going on in the theatre to the left. He knew everything about skin grafts behind the ear with skin grown from the patient's own cells, so he did not really need to sit through it anyways.
So, here he was now, in a lecture hall on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a thick folder in his lap that spoke about the discussed topic in detail, and could not wait for it to begin, when someone sat down beside him with a huff.
"What are you doing here?"
He turned his head towards the new arrival. It was not uncommon for him to meet people during conventions, but aside from Karev and Addison he did not know a lot of gynaecologists. He would never live it down if someone saw him sitting here if they knew about his past with Addison. In the span of the second it took him to register the arrival, he turned from embarrassment at being something akin to a fanboy to indignation upon discovery who it was.
"You're one to talk."
"Seriously, what are you doing here? This is the last place I would expect to see you."
He couldn't help it, he snorted.
"Maybe not. Maybe this was the one place where I would be sure to find you."
The person beside him grinned widely, something that he found he had never seen before on her.
"I could say the same thing about you,Yang."
Someone else plopped down beside Cristina Yang.
"Oh, please, this could be important."
"Really? As far as I can discern, cardiologists are not needed for this kind of procedure, Yang. Which begs the question, what is O'Malley doing here?"
"Maybe I just want to see Evil Spawn stumble during his first conference."
George O'Malley was the last one he ever would have expected to find in a lecture where Alex Karev was the lecturer. The animosity between the two men had been well- known, and had not abated, as far as he knew his gossip.
"Or maybe he promised Izzie he would come so that he could tell her all about it."
O'Malley quickly hushed Cristina, who grinned snidely. He smiled inwardly. O'Malley's friendship with Izzie Stevens had taken time to heal after it had broken up O'Malley's marriage to Torres, doomed as it was from the beginning, but before he had left Seattle Grace, it had mended, and only the relationship that Stevens had with Karev had been a stumbling stone for them.
"Still does not explain why you are here, Yang."
"Maybe she is here to spy for Meredith. Or to lend Alex emotional support. Be a substitute for Izzie."
This time it was O'Malley who tried the evil smile that Yang and Karev had down to an art, but it was an ill- fated attempt. O'Malley just could not do vicious the way the other two could.
"So, which one is it, Yang?"
Cristina huffed, folding her arms in front of her chest, trying to look dignified.
"Maybe it is a combination of the first two. Maybe George is the substitute. You know, unresolved sexual tension and all between George and Alex would explain the constant animosity."
He couldn't help it, he cackled, while George sputtered, at a loss for words.
"That would explain some things."
George turned towards Yang, disbelief still colouring his voice at her comment.
"Cristina! I'm not gay!"
Yang stared at him, her dark eyes curious.
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yes. We've been over this. Besides, you know who I sleep with."
"Well, you made Meredith cry in bed, and you cheated on Callie, the sex between you and Izzie was a disaster and now you're escaping Lexi by attending the conference of two people that you do not particularly like."
He hadn't known that O'Malley could turn that impressive a shade of red.
"How do you know about the bad sex?"
"O'Malley, everybody knew about the bad sex between you and Stevens."
Now O'Malley was giving the expression 'turning scarlet' a whole new meaning.
Awkward silence ensued. They never did have anything big to do with each other, so after two years apart there was nothing to chat about, or to catch up on. Mark knew about the gossip from the emails that Derek and Meredith sent him on a regular basis, and neither Yang nor O'Malley had ever shown any interest in plastics so he barely had them as interns. At least Grey, Stevens and Karev pretended. Well, technically, Karev had not pretended, he really had wanted to go into plastics, but then Addison came along and swept Karev away from him. Not that Mark ever shed a tear, so to speak, about that, since it was obvious from day one that Karev was a OB/GYN, not a plastics man.
It took a woman's gentle touch, or tough love, as Addison gave it often enough, to lead this particular stray onto the right path.
Mark shook his head slowly at himself, God, he was not turning soft now, was he?
"Where are they anyways?"
Yang's impatient grumble pulled him from his musings, and a look at the watch told him that indeed the lecture was supposed to start in two minutes but neither of the two presenters had appeared yet.
"Ah, there she is."
Addison strolled into the room at a brisk pace, looking stunning as usual, her red hair swept up in a tight bun that accentuates her sharp facial features, especially her cheekbones, a knee- length skirt, shirt and blazer, and heels. The usually Addison- attire, and it seemed as though Los Angeles had not changed her in that aspect one bit.
And once Mark had laid eyes on her, he found it hard to remove them. Addison had always had this hold on him for the first few moments. After that he could tear his eyes away if he wanted to, but she was the most interesting object to look at until the lecture starts, so he drank in her sight.
"Why are we here again?"
"You can always leave, George. No- one is holding you here."
Cristina's tone of voice suggested that O'Malley might have tagged along with her, with no real intention of attending the lecture, just because of the company. Mark recalled an email in which Meredith mentioned that Izzie and George had drifted apart as friends, but that her and Izzie had become closer, and that George was slowly but surely removing himself from their group.
Mark had never bothered to find out what had been going on, but it seemed as though it was time to do so.
Not now, though. After the lecture, yes.
A high- pitched squeak came through the speakers as Addison switched on the microphone.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am very sorry about the delay, but Dr Karev only arrived in Las Vegas an hour ago and is currently stuck in traffic on his way here. The lecture will be delayed by about ten more minutes."
Murmurs rose, but no- one got up to leave.
"I thought Alex flew out yesterday. I heard Mer and Izzie talk about getting together for dinner."
"You mean you don't know?"
"Don't know what, Cristina?"
"Izzie went into labour yesterday during lunch, while you were in surgery. I thought you had been told."
"No, I wasn't! But this is too early, she's not due for another seven weeks, this is way too early. There are so many complications-"
Mark couldn't help himself, he had to interrupt O'Malley before he went off into one of his rambles again, and fate only knew when he would stop.
"O'Malley!"
Something that he had perfected during his time at Seattle Grace was the long- suffering sigh of the martyrer.
"Yang, what is going on? I know that Stevens is pregnant, but..."
He trailed off, trusting her to be able to fill in the blanks.
"Izzie has been constantly monitored for the last two months, because this pregnancy has been difficult. They had to open her up last month to change the baby's position because the foetus was slowly suffocating and starving. The position that it was in prevented it from being fed with nourishment and oxygen. Addison flew out to Seattle to perform the surgery since they also fixed a heart problem that the baby had developed due to the bad connection. Izzie was not allowed to be without supervision, much less work. So she has been hanging around in the hospital, with the boys in the crèche, and her doing paperwork and stuff. Two weeks ago she had Braxton Hicks- contractions but they calmed down. Yesterday her water broke and she had to rushed into surgery. Alex had to perform the C- section himself because no- one else was available. The baby is in an incubator, internal organs are underdeveloped and she cannot breathe on her own."
"How's Izzie?"
It sounded weird for Mark to use Stevens' first name but it just slipped out.
"She's okay, given the circumstances. She lost a lot of blood and crashed twice during the surgery because her blood pressure went through the roof, but Meredith said that she was awake and obviously lucid enough to kick Alex here to Las Vegas."
Silence overtook them again, all mulling over that Cristina had just told them.
Mark took out his BlackBerry and wrote a quick message to Derek and Meredith, inquiring further information on what had actually happened.
"What is the baby's name?"
Five years ago, O'Malley would have sounded enthusiastic and bouncy like a puppy at the news, hell, he would have been the first one to know about the baby, but now he sounded detached, as if he was asking out of courtesy but no real curiosity.
Yang only shrugged.
"Izzie said that is was up to Alex to name her. She named the twins, now it's his turn."
Ah, the twins. Mark had read about them almost as much as he had read about Derek's and Meredith's kids after he had left. He had met them in person, actually, but the last time he had seen them was when they were two- years- old, same age as Meredith's oldest child.
He suspected that the names of those three children and the next one that Meredith had given birth to two years later, had been decided on a wild drunken Tequila night. At least when it came to the length of the name, the young mothers had gone slightly overboard.
Who needed three first names?
Seriously.
Nathaniel James Gregory and Julian Nicholas Christopher Karev. Nate and Jude.
Benedict Michael Anthony and Anna Sophie Camille Sheppard. Ben and Millie.
Yang did not have any kids, only an ex- husband, and O'Malley had a child with Lexi, but for the life of him, Mark could not recall what the kid's name was, or the sex.
"O'Malley, what's your kid called?"
O'Malley looked startled at the question.
"My kid? You mean, my child, Dr Sloane? My son?"
Mark rolled his eyes so high they nearly rolled into his hairline, not hiding his exasperation that O'Malley seemed just as skittish as ever.
"No, the elephant that your wife gave birth to."
"Connor Chad O'Malley. CC."
What a 'duh'- moment, but Mark just about caught himself from saying it out loud. O'Malley was too easy sometimes.
His BlackBerry vibrated and he checked it to see that he had gotten a message from both Meredith and Derek, the latter informing him about the medical status of Izzie Stevens and baby, the former giving him the name of the youngest Karev.
"Matilda Evelyn Amelie."
O'Malley and Yang stared at him as if he had just vomited gore.
"That's the name of the baby. Matilda Evelyn Amelie Karev." Matty or Tilly probably, or something that the other children would come up with, who knew.
It was a nice name, he had to admit, and Yang seemed to agree, nodding her head in approval, while O'Malley looked sick. But that could have also been simply due to the fact that Alex had named the child.
Which again begged the question, what were O'Malley and Yang doing here? Neither of their previous answers had been satisfying not to mention honest.
"So, why are you here?"
"The other lectures are boring. There is not a single cardio- lecture on, plastics is not my thing, and if Karev slips up, I have something to hold over his head for the rest of his life."
Fair enough, but there was more to it. Mark swept his gaze over the packed room, and then he it. Or him, more like.
Burke.
Even from behind, his tall dominating figure could not be mistaken for someone else.
"Or maybe it is because you saw him walk into the theatre."
Mark pointed towards Burke, although he was sure that Cristina knew exactly where the other man was seated.
"Cristina!"
O'Malley was the voice of indignation, as usual.
"You could not have cared less if Karev was doing this or not. You saw Burke, that's why you are here."
He could not help it, he had to needle Cristina. Her face was stunned, a first- timer for her, or at least for him to be witnessing it. She probably never would have thought to be found out.
Also, the fact that she had yet to say a word or protest or denial spoke more than anything she could have said to save her dignity.
She also was obviously uncomfortable with the hovering attention that O'Malley paid her now, and Mark could see that she was this close to exploding. He had to defuse the tension.
"What about you, O'Malley? Here to see Karev stumble or did you really just tag along with Yang?"
O'Malley looked into his lap and mumbled something that sounded like 'tagged along'. Mark snorted delicately. Wimp. He had never made it a secret that he did not like O'Malley, and that he thought the other man to be a fool to resist the subtle advances of Lexie Grey, but then again, maybe O'Malley had finally grown up, and grown a pair. After the disaster that had been Callie, then Izzie, he had had reason to tread more carefully, but even after the long consideration time he had had given himself before taking Lexie out on a first date, nothing had boded well for the couple. Oh, Lexie had been over the moon, but O'Maley had never seemed quite content, or at ease with her. It had appeared to Mark that he had given in to Lexie simply because she was there and he was a man with needs. That made O'Malley sound like someone who used women, but how else would you explain it that he and Lexie were separated now and he was sleeping with Nurse Olivia in every on- call room in the hospital? Meredith had written him in her last email that they all had walked in on the two of them doing it multiple times, and that Lexie had transferred to Mercy West two months ago in an attempt to distance herself from the hurt and betrayal that was shoved so righteously in her face.
When one thought of it, O'Malley was a manwhore. And it was not the fun- kind of manwhore like Mark. He never promised the women he slept with anything. But O'Malley promised them the world, and look how that turned out.
Mark shook his head at himself. O'Malley? Karev, yes, definitely, and even though the other man had had his fair share of nurses and scandal, he had always returned to Izzie Stevens. He had been like mark in the sense that he never promised commitment, only a good time. Was not his fault that Lexie had thought that they had something real. Ava/ Rebecca Pope/ Jane Doe and Izzie Stevens had been the only ones to effectively bring down the walls. But O'Malley? Never in a thousand years would he have thought that he would be the one with the highest wearout rate on the hospital.
Fascinating, kind of.
"And why are you here, Dr Sloan?"
"Addison. And Karev."
Yang snorted.
"You're still carrying a torch for Montgomery?"
"No, but she is a friend, and she told me about this, invited me along, even."
O'Malley opened his mouth to say something when Karev finally arrived, frazzled and harried. He rushed over to Addison, putting down his bag, taking out the laptop, setting up the presentation. He looked different. More mature. Slimmer, skinnier, even, though that was probably down to his bout with meningitis a couple of months ago that had landed him in hospital for weeks. He had lost his stubble, was clean- shaven, wearing a suit and- glasses?
Ah well, so did Addison, and so did he, come to think of it. In the hurry to leave to Las Vegas after the apparently very dramatic birth of his daughter, Karev was allowed to have forgotten his contact lenses.
"Ladies, and Gentlemen, so sorry about the delay, but my wife gave birth to our daughter this morning so I did not have time to get to Las Vegas in time. But we can begin now. Dr Montgomery?"
Hushed silence now, and then Addison started speaking.
"Over the course of the last five years, Dr Karev and I have been treating mothers whose unborn babies developed brain tumours. In 89 per cent of cases the brain turmours can be detected, but until now, delivery was dangerous, and took the effort of a lot of nurses and doctors. This number has been significantly reduced now as the procedure to operate on the foetus' brain has been changed. Now the danger for both mother and baby is down to about 42 per cent whereas before it was at 63 per cent..."