It's time to start a new story. I'm hoping for a long one, here, but I'm not sure. This kind of delves in Alex's life and his past. I introduce a new character or two in this one. The first one you meet is Gwendolyn. Review so I know what you think. It'll help to shape the story as I go. I usually like to keep a few chapters ahead of what's posted, but I'm just going with the flow on this one.

Obviously, I have nothing to do with Grey's Anatomy and this is all for fun. . .yada, yada, yada. The site isn't called for nothing, you know.

Prologue

Alex Karev sighed. It had been a long day and he was ready to go home, even though his shift didn't end until the next morning. Rebecca (Ava) had gone home to her husband once more and Lexie had plans with Meredith and Cristina (go figure!) tonight. It was almost Christmas and Izzie had big plans for a Christmas dinner she couldn't cook. Walter, Joe's boyfriend, offered to help her since Burke was gone. To make matters worse, she had already invited Dr. Shepard, Dr. Sloan, and the Chief. And they were all actually coming for dinner.

Alex Karev sighed again.

He looked up from the chart he was reading and nearly chocked on the water he was drinking. No way! No freaking way was this happening now. A smile broke out on his face.

"Alex," a young woman said, stepping forward as she realized he saw her. Alex looked up and down the hall. No one was paying any attention to the two of them. And why should they? Karev was nearly low man on the totem pole and no one knew her. He dropped the chart on the counter, rushed forward and took her by her elbow, and then ran off to find an empty room. "Alex, what. . .?"

"Shh," he hushed her, finally finding a room where they could talk. "I'm on call tonight," he said, shutting the door, "so we're okay until my pager goes off."

"That important are you," the woman asked, smirking. Alex knew that smirk and he smiled wider. He hadn't realized how much he truly missed her until he saw her again. She seemed taller since he had last seen her, two weeks before he started at Seattle Grace. She had offered to come out with him but he had told her to stay put. "That writing is taking off," the woman said, jumping into conversation. "The first two books are on the bestseller's list. The money's coming in, Alex, so I decided to finally start looking for your graduation present."

Alex frowned. "Gwendolyn, I was only joking, I. . ."

"No," she shushed him, "I told you I would do it and I will. Actually, I have."

"You have?" Alex couldn't believe his ears. He almost didn't want to.

"Yes," she said, "I have. I found him, Alex. I found Dad."

Chapter One

Alex took his sister, Gwendolyn, to the hallway lined with gurneys that he and his friends used to frequent, and ran off to answer a page. When he looked back, she had pulled a book out of her bag and was reading, leaning back against the wall. Taking a deep breath, he ran into the patient's room who had coded blue while he had been downstairs. After two shocks to the heart, the patient's breathing and heart rate were normal. He sighed in relief; Hahn wasn't going to hand him his ass. He was just back from his two week suspension from sneaking Rebecca into the gallery and he didn't want to screw this up.

After checking up on the two other patients on his watch for the night, he went back to find his sister. She was right where she left him except she had company. Alex winced as his sister laughed. The nerve of that guy to flirt with his sister. . . "Dr. Sloan," Alex said, "can I help you with something?"

"Your sister is delightful, Karev," Mark Sloan said, turning to face Alex. "You should have had her visit earlier."

"I didn't ask her here," Alex found himself saying. His sister narrowed her eyes at him. He blinked. And sighed. "Is there something I can help you with, Dr. Sloan?"

"Yes," Sloan said, jumping from the gurney, "since I found you I need you to prep the patient in 3289. I have the time to do the procedure now."

"What kind of surgeon are you," Gwendolyn asked.

"Plastic," came Sloan's response. Alex watched his sister's eyebrow rise in suspicion before shrugging and picking up her book to continue reading. Alex would have laughed if he wasn't about to scrub in on a plastics procedure. Sure, he had a higher interest in Neo-Natal but the Chief had yet to replace Addison Montgomery. There were other surgeons he could work under, but none of Addison's caliber. "Yeah, well, get to it, Dr. Karev and I'll meet you in OR 3." With a nod, Sloan was gone.

"Well, he was . . . charming," Gwendolyn said, putting her book back down.

"I don't think he expected you to turn him down," Alex said, hopping up on the gurney to sit by his sister.

"Well, he didn't exactly ask, Alex," she said, "not that I would have done anything. I have a boyfriend."

"Oh, another imaginary boyfriend," Alex teased, "what's his name this time."

"He's not imaginary," Gwendolyn protested, "and his name is Nikkos Rowan."

"The Nikkos Rowan," Alex asked, slightly shocked, "as in Cardiothoracic surgeon from Chicago?"

"The very one," she confirmed, "he thought you would have heard of him."

"Who hasn't," Alex muttered. "Is he here, too, Gwennie?"

"No," she said, smiling at the use of her old nickname. No one had called her Gwennie since Alex moved to Seattle. "He's still in Chicago," she said, "he made it as far as the airport before the hospital called and asked him to come back. There was something about a basketball player with a leaky valve or something. He'll come next time."

"Next time," Alex questioned, "why would he do that?"

"Well, until two days ago we didn't know where Dad was," she explained, "Mom's a mess, and well, I really only have you as far as family goes. We never wanted anything to do with the rest of our relatives. Nikkos wants to meet my family and that's you." She bit her bottom lip. "He wanted to be there when we go see Dad, but I was planning on losing him and going just to the two of us." Alex nodded. He wouldn't bring any of his friends to see his Dad either.

"So why does Rowan want to meet your family," he asked and then amended, "me."

"Nikkos' family is very Greek. They aren't My-Big-Fat-Greek-Wedding-Greek, but Greek nonetheless. He has a big family, all in Chicago, and they're great. I can go to family function when he's running late and be completely at ease. It's nice. Anyway, I think he wants to propose. I think he wants to ask you for permission."

"Why? Isn't it your decision? I don't care who you marry," Alex said.

"Yes, you do," she scolded. "And it's proper," she continued, "not so much anymore. It's old fashioned, I suppose. Kind of romantic, don't you think?"

Izzie would think that was romantic, he thought. "You want him to ask me for permission," Alex voiced, slightly confused.

"Well, he wants to, so I'm okay with it," she said, "you just make sure you tell him yes. He'll want to get to know you and everything first. Let him. Just let him and he'll ask when he's ready. Go prep your patient." She slipped her book into her purse and slid off the gurney. "I'm going to head back to the hotel. Call me when you're shift is over so we can decide when we're going to see Dad."

"Do you really want to," he asked, "go see him, I mean." She shrugged, turning to face her brother as she shouldered her bag. "I know what I said, Gwennie, but that doesn't mean. . ."

"You wouldn't let me buy you anything, Alex," she said, stopping him. "You graduated from Medical School. Do you know what a big deal that is for people from our background? Most of the people we lived near or went to school with are either in jail for drugs or pregnant and already have four kids. We were lowest of the low with our deadbeat, drinking father and our mother who was overly indifferent. You're a doctor and I'm a published author. How cool are we?"

"What does that have to do with Dad," Alex asked, still chuckling.

"It's time to put old demons to rest so we can go on with our lives," she said.

"You're putting yourself down again," he said.

"How so?"

"You keep talking about how it's such a big deal that I graduated from Med School. I went to Iowa State on a wrestling scholarship. You're the one who got a free ride because of your grades. That's freaking amazing seeing as Dad was constantly yelling and . . . stuff."

Gwennie nodded. "Yeah, we're pretty amazing. Anyway, I promised Nikkos that I would call when I landed but I wanted to see you first. Call me when you're shift is over and we'll make plans."

"Speaking of plans," Alex said as his sister walked away, "what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Christmas," she asked, turning around at the doorway.

"Yeah, Christmas," he said, "you know that big holiday that's about a week from now?"

"I don't know," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I work Christmas Eve," he said, "but my friend Izzie is having this crazy Christmas dinner thing. You should come. You know, if you aren't busy or anything."

"Yeah," she said, "I think about it. Call me." He nodded and she was gone. Alex jumped off the gurney and ran to room 3289 to prep his patient before Sloan changed his mind.

It was seven o'clock. His shift was over and he wanted nothing more than to crash and sleep for about 24 hours. He was changing into his street clothes when Izzie, Meredith, and Cristina walked in.

"Evil Spawn," Cristina said, opening her locker.

"Crack Whore," Alex greeted. Izzie shook her head. "What," he asked.

"You two are insane," she said, changing into her scrubs.

"You love it and you know it," Alex said, putting his shirt on. "Later," he said, grabbing his bag and leaving. He didn't have time for chitchat this morning. He retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and sent a text to his sister: Where R U?

The answer came back as he got into his car. Archfield – 2222. Alex sighed. Did everything stay at the freaking Archfield? There must not be another hotel in all of Seattle. Shaking his head, he started his car and headed across town. His sister was on her cell phone when he knocked on the door. She opened the door and moved back to let him come in.

The room was immaculate, even with all of her stuff she brought. He knew all of her clothes would be hung up or put away in drawers. He bet if he went into the bathroom all of her girly stuff would be lined up on the counter. He sat down on a couch and waited for her to get off the phone.

"Yes, Nikkos, I'll call as soon as we're done talking to him," she said, rolling her eyes at her brother. "I don't know what I'm going to say to him. Probably something along the lines of 'suck it, old man, you suck.' I know that isn't nice," she said as Alex started laughing as the scene played out in his head, "but it's the best I can come up with. I will not be nice. Not even for you. If you knew. . . yeah, alright. Is that your pager? I'm sure it's important. Go. Love you, too, bye." She closed her phone and looked at her brother who was still trying to catch his breath from laughing. "Liked that one, did you?"

"If we do go," he said, gasping for air, "I hope you tell him that."

"You don't want to go," Gwennie asked, concerned.

"I don't know," he said, regaining his composure and sitting up. "It's been so long since he split," he said, "I don't know if it's a good idea to drudge up the past like that." Gwennie smiled at him; it was a small, sad smile that broke his heart. "But if you really want to go, I guess it can't hurt."

"You never could tell me no," she said, grabbing a folder from the bag that rested on the bed and then plopped down beside Alex. "Nikkos helped me track him down," she said, "I don't know how he ended up in Washington of all place, but he's in a treatment facility in Portland. Here's the medical file they sent. You want something to drink?"

"A beer if you got one," he said, flipping the folder open.

"It's like eight in the morning," she said, disapprovingly.

"Yeah, and I've been up all night," he told her, "so technically it's like dinner time." She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and grabbed a beer and a bottle of water.

"Sometimes I just don't know about you, Alex."

He laughed and started reading the file.