Everything'sNotLost

A/N Okay, so, this is my first ever Grey's fic. O I read them obsessively, but I haven't ever gotten around to writing my own, so if it sucks, well.. y'know, I'll hopefully get better. The sad news of the spin-off (cuz you know, how are Alex and Addison supposed to be together in two different shows, states, and cities?!) inspiredme to write what I think should happen, happy ending included. So, without further ado, onward with chapter one.

Chapter I: Love Potential

A fleeting glance around the empty office sent an odd feeling of relief through the pit of Addison's stomach. She held only a single box in her arms (Seattle had never been the plan; nothing of great importance was kept in her office, or her hotel for that matter). A few certificates and awards and degrees in old, dusty frames piled on top of one another and perhaps a staff photo (not that she remembered when it had been taken or why the hell she had kept it). No, the most important of her possessions she kept in the pocket of her lab coat, or her jacket, or whatever she happened to be wearing; it was worn (but it couldn't have been that old, because she knew it had only been taken a little more than a year ago; it was just frail with use and handling). It was canon. An unexpected photo of Alex tending to a neo-natal patient that she couldn't remember the name of. Back in the days when she still wore her salmon scrubs and was still referred to as The Ruler of All That is Evil.

Karev had been tamed a bit since then. He would never lose his rough edge or the way he came on so strong (she prayed he wouldn't, anyway, because he had the makings of a great surgeon. He would be great). But somehow, the rough edges had been sanded a bit by wear and tear and the way a patient seemed to need him. No one can be gruff and angry at the world when they're holding the first baby they've ever delivered (or the second, or the third). How do we get from there to here? So fresh and unscarred. Addison sighed and shifted a bit. The feeling of relief had long since passed, and now she was left with the hollow, empty hole that Alex was supposed to fill. Because that had been the plan. Where had the time gone?

With a last glance around her -- the -- office, Addison exited the room and let the door slam (or shut as hard as it could, becuase all the doors in the hospital had those stoppers that made sure they closed softly enough so as not to disturb the sleeping patients). Seattle Grace was the same as everyday. Nurses chatted behind their desks, doctors came and went, scribbling down notes on patient charts in chicken-scratch handwriting, patients slept and families grieved or rejoiced and Addison was in the middle of it all, yet strangely detached. Because this wasn't a normal day. It was the -- her -- last day.

The last day she would berate Mark for using his interns as personal slaves, the last day she would walk into a patient's room as their doctor, the last day she would ask Bailey to borrow an intern, the last day she would deliver a baby. Sure, there were plenty of babies to deliver in L.A. (come on, it's Hollywood), but still, it was the last day of the last year and a half, and it was a sad thing to know that it was the absolute, absolutely for real last day that she would sneak up to the NICU and "accidentally" find Alex there as well, because they both thought easier and more seriously surrounded by a room full of babies that were struggling to survive. It put things into a different perspective; made her -- them -- look at things at a different angle.

There were no Alex Karevs in L.A.

XxX

Alex lived under a banner of avoidance. When things got bad, he avoided them until things got better, or until they resolved themselves. Some things, though, were unavoidable. Like the fact that a potential love of his life was leaving on a plane to L.A. tomorrow; he couldn't avoid that. He spent all night after the excapade in the supply closet calling himself bad names. When he ran out of words, he would start the list over and again after that, until he fell asleep on Meredith's couch with his textbook over his face and his dreams in a hotel room on the other side of town.

Addison Forbes Montgomery intrigued him like no other woman, no other person, had ever done. She was an amazing doctor; that was a given. She was an excellent neo-natal surgeon. All of her awards said that. But there was something else. The way she communictaed with her patients was as natural as breathing, and that was something he envied deeply. He knew, though, that they all had a unique style of talking to patients. Her's was compassion and understanding, and his was blunt honesty. More than that, there was something about her, an air of elegance, that set her apart from any other woman he had ever dated (okay, so they hadn't actually dated). She was witty and intelligent, she stuck up for her interns and taught them well. She had a talent for keeping her personal and professional lives seperate, even if she had had a fling with him. She was funny and he liked the way she was all curves and skin and softness when he touched her intimately. Oh, and he liked the way she smiled and the way she laughed and the way she bit her lip and tilted her head to the side just so when she was confused or thinking.

So there was something there, he mused. Something more than a physical attraction, and something much more than a professional respect. There was definitely love potential here, and if he didn't love her yet, he knew he would. It was just a matter of time. Alex Karev had a plan. He had two plans. And if the first failed, the second was bound to work. And now, it was time to put his plans into action.

L.A. was much too far away.

XxX

A/N2 Okay, so that was chapter one. I know it's pretty short, but bear with me. The next will be much longer. You wanna make me happy? Press that purple button and REVIEW! It won't take more than 30 seconds, and it'll make me happy and motivate me to write more sooner.