Hi, everyone! So I realize Halloween has passed, but considering I'm 3 years late on all my stories, does it really come as a surprise to you that this is late, too? Anyway, takes place after Addison and Derek's divorce, but before Addison and Alex start having cute moments. Happy (late) Halloween!
The Monster Mash
By: Kate811
"Where is he?!" Addison growled as she stormed down the hallway of Seattle Grace's labor and delivery unit, shoving any staff that dared to get in her way to the side.
The crowd parted and there was her target: nonchalantly leaning against the nurse's station.
"Good afternoon, Dr. Montgomery. And how was your morning?" Alex asked in the most sickeningly sweet voice he could muster.
"How the hell do you think it was? I could KILL you!" Addison was practically foaming at the mouth as she grabbed Alex by the lapels of his lab coat and threw him up against the nearest wall.
"Now, now, Dr. Montgomery. I think this goes against the lessons you learned this morning, don't you?" Alex batted his eyelashes at her and smirked.
At this, Addison released her grip on his lab coat and smoothed down her hair and clothing in an effort to calm down. However, Alex did not bother hiding his smirk, and it instantly infuriated Addison all over again. Snarling, she grabbed him by the earlobe, dragged him into a conference room, shoved him down into a chair, and leaned down over him, placing her hands on either side of him on the armrests.
"You bastard! Conflict Resolution lessons? Really, Karev? Really?!"
Alex's jaw dropped. "I didn't think they'd take it that far!"
Addison nodded, her voice becoming dangerously low.
"Because of the little stunt you pulled, they insisted I needed to brush up on resolving my conflicts in an appropriate manner for the work setting. I spent two hours in a room smaller than my closet listening to a woman who had on, I don't know, a bucket of perfume and a black suit jacket with navy blue pants, prattle on about strategies to compromise with difficult coworkers. Black and navy blue, Karev!"
Alex bit his lip hard enough to draw blood to avoid laughing. He hadn't set out to punish her this badly, but it was turning out to be even better than he expected. After a particularly awful fight in the OR that concluded with Dr. Montgomery actually threatening to use the scalpel in her hand to cut off some certain parts he was rather fond of, Alex decided to get even by filling out one of those complaint forms all big corporations carry but never expect to be used and slipping it under Human Resources' door. He never actually expected them to do anything besides give her a slap on the wrist and tell her to play nice, and perhaps maybe she'd finally let him off her services.
"Aw geez, not black and navy blue? How did you manage to survive?!"
Addison let go of her hold on the chair, stood up straight, and picked imaginary lint off her sleeve.
"I'm a Montgomery, Karev! I deserve to associate with people who have the decency to color coordinate," she sniffed haughtily.
Just as Alex was opening his mouth to retort, a nurse knocked on the door.
"Dr. Montgomery? We need you in 221!"
Addison nodded and ran for the hall, while calling over her shoulder, "Let's go, Karev."
"What?!" Alex asked in disbelief, as he jogged to keep up with her.
"Oh come on, you didn't think I'd let you off my service that easily, did you?"
The groan Alex let out echoed throughout the halls of Seattle Grace's maternity ward.
"I'm sorry, Jenny, but I'm going to have to keep you over on observation overnight." Addison confirmed as she snapped her gloves off and into the trash.
"Dr. Montgomery, you don't understand…it's Halloween!" The pregnant woman in the bed bemoaned.
"Your blood pressure is dangerously high. We're getting it under control and we're going to pump you full of steroids in case this little girl of yours decides she can't wait any longer. I'm sorry, but-"
"Mom? What's going on?" A little voice cut Addison off. The doctors turned to the corner, where a little boy no older than 7 sat on the ground with a little girl no older than 4 playing with blocks.
"Nothing, sweetie, just keep your sister entertained for me, okay?"
The little boy nodded and turned back to his blocks, his shaggy brown hair falling in his face.
Jenny sighed. "We just moved here. We don't know anyone. I promised them I'd take them trick or treating tonight and we'd have the best Halloween ever. My husband is overseas. Iraq. We have a babysitter, but she's a frail old woman. She couldn't take them out for the night." she explained glumly.
A loud pop resounded throughout the room, and Addison dodged to avoid being hit by the offending noise. It landed at her feet. The little girl toddled over to retrieve the item.
Her Barbie doll's head.
"Oh no! I was just trying to brush her hair. I killed her!" Her lower lip started to tremble.
Addison looked around awkwardly. Before she could react, Alex came to her rescue. He kneeled down in front of the little girl.
"Don't worry…" He trailed off.
"Molly." The little girl offered her name up.
"Molly. Don't worry, Molly. I'm a surgeon, and you know what that means?"
Molly shook her head.
"It means I can save your doll's life. May I?" Alex held out his hand.
Molly looked at him warily for a moment, before deciding that trusting a stranger with her Barbie's life was better than having a dead Barbie. She handed him the decapitated doll and the doll head.
Addison watched curiously as Alex fumbled with the doll's head and body, twisting and turning in a graceless manner.
"There! Viola!" Alex exclaimed as the head and body were reunited.
"You did it!" Molly cheered, throwing her chubby arms around Alex's neck.
"That was SO cool!" The little boy, watching from the other side of the room, shot Alex a thumbs up.
"Thanks, dude." Alex returned the thumbs up, groaning as he stood up from his kneeling position.
"Zach." The little boy corrected.
"Got it."
The wheels in Addison's head began to turn.
"Jenny, I may have an idea as to someone who could take your kids trick or treating…"
"Oh! Who? I would be so grateful, Dr. Montgomery!"
"Dr. Karev." Addison grinned.
Alex froze, "What? I have work tonight, Dr. Montgomery."
It was Addison's turn to finally throw one of Alex's patented smirks back in his face.
"Well seeing as you currently work for me, I know for a fact I can spare you tonight."
"Are you sure? I don't want to be any trouble…" Jenny trailed off.
"Nonsense! Dr. Karev doesn't mind one bit, do you, Dr. Karev?" Addison was careful to keep her smile plastered to her face, but the glint in her eyes as she glanced at Alex said otherwise.
"Besides, Dr. Karev made sure I had my morning free, so the least I can do is give him an evening off. Isn't that right, Dr. Karev?" Addison smiled triumphantly at Karev.
Payback was a bitch, and her name was Addison Forbes Montgomery.
Alex looked at the infuriately happy grin on Addison's face and the eager, joyful look on the children's faces, torn between running the hell out of the room and hiding for the rest of the night or staying and making some kids' Halloween.
An idea occurred to him, and he decided he couldn't run.
"Jenny, we'd be happy to take your kids out for the night!" He proclaimed.
"WE?" Addison and the kids asked.
"Well sure, you're my boss, Dr. Montgomery, and seeing as I'm still an intern, I need supervision at all times."
"Wow! Two doctors taking my kids out tonight! I feel so much safer!" Jenny quipped.
Addison opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Did he really just beat her again?!
A tugging at her skirt snapped her out of her trance. She looked down to see Molly standing at her feet once again.
"What are you going to dress up as, Dr. Monty?"
"You can call me Addison. And as for the dressing up, well, I thought just the kids did that!"
"Last Halloween my mommy and daddy dressed up." Molly's lower lip began to tremble again and Zach's eyes casted downwards.
Addison chewed her lip thoughtfully.
"I'm sure I have something at home I can throw together. How about you, Dr. Karev?"
"Uh, yeah, me too." Alex scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.
"Their costumes are in my car. I'll have them ready for you in an hour. Again, thank you so much!" Jenny smiled gratefully as Addison ordered a patient care tech to retrieve the costumes for her.
"No problem." Addison and Alex muttered as they dragged their feet out the door.
When they were a safe distance away from the room, Addison smacked Alex in the chest.
"What the hell was that for?" Alex moaned as he rubbed his chest.
"You bastard! This was supposed to be me getting back at you! Now you've roped me into it!"
Alex snickered, "It's Halloween! Isn't this the night of your people anyway?"
Addison's eyes were ablaze with raging fires and her face flushed furiously, "You will deliver every single baby that comes through the maternity ward for the next month. Your pager number will be at the top of every labor and delivery nurse's list and I'll make sure they know to use it."
"You can't do that!" Alex whined.
"I just did. See you in an hour, Karev."
With that, Addison turned on her heels, and stomped down the hallway, leaving a sputtering, pissed off Alex behind.
"You were supposed to dress up." Alex deadpanned as Addison waltzed into Seattle Grace's lobby an hour later.
"I did." Addison answered.
"You're in a dress. What the hell are you supposed to be?" Alex's brow furrowed in confusion.
Addison had on a tight, bright red, long-sleeved sweater dress and knee-high black boots. She wore her hair in lose waves, and had red lipstick on. She looked hot, Alex had to give her that, but she was certainly not dressed for Halloween.
Addison smiled knowingly as she reached into her purse. She pulled out a red headband with devil ears attached, and slipped it onto her head.
"Again, I reiterate, you were supposed to dress up, Dr. Montgomery." Alex deadpanned, again.
"Ha. Ha. Really, I am laughing so hard on the inside," Addison muttered sarcastically. Hey, everyone already referred to her as Satan. She might as well live it up. Plus, the dress was new. And it was hot, if she said so herself.
"Now what, may I ask, are you supposed to be?" She asked.
"Uh, I'm a cowboy. Duh." Alex stood up to allow her to get the full effect of his costume, which consisted of a dark green flannel shirt borrowed from O'Malley, a cowboy hat he had from a Halloween party back in his frat days, and tight jeans.
Addison felt her mouth go dry as she took in just how tight his jeans were.
Luckily she was saved from having to think up something snarky to reply with because a nurse walked up with Zach and Molly.
"You guys look great!" Addison exclaimed as she took in their adorable costumes. Zach had on a miniature batman costume, while Molly was decked out in all pink as a ballerina, her blonde curls piled on top of her head in a high ponytail.
"Let's go! I heard there's a haunted walk somewhere around here we gotta check out!" Zach grabbed Alex by the hand and began tugging him towards the door.
Addison remained froze in her spot.
"Dude, you coming?" Alex called from the door.
"Did he say…haunted walk?" Addison asked meekly.
"Yeah, so what?" Alex asked, then realization dawned on him. "Oh, you're scared?"
"I did not say that." Addison stuck her chin out stubbornly.
"You don't have to. You're as white as a ghost! You are scared!"
Addison shook her head. "I'm just worried about how Molly will react to all the scary stuff a haunted walk would entail, that's all."
"Oh boy, Zach! I'm so excited for this haunted walk! Do you think there will be a scary clown? I hope so. I love scary clowns," Molly chose that exact moment to exclaim to her brother.
"My mom should've mentioned that Molly lives for scary stuff. She's a weirdo. Her favorite movie is The Shining," Zach explained.
"There, you see? No one is scared but you!" Alex grinned knowingly.
"I'm NOT scared! Let's get a move on before all the good candy is taken!" Addison held her head high as she grabbed Molly's hand and headed for the door.
Alex and Zach glanced at each other.
"Dude, she's totally scared," Zach whispered to Alex.
"I know. This will be fun!"
Trick or treating went pleasantly enough without too much incident, besides Addison having to nearly break up a fistfight between Alex and a father who was handing out apples and toothbrushes instead of Halloween candy. Before anyone knew it, they were standing outside the entrance of the infamous haunted walk.
"Alex, we don't even know Zack or Molly's health history. What if one of them has a seizure due to all the strobe lights in there and stuff?" Addison asked, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice.
"You don't think their mom would've mentioned something like that?"
"It may have slipped her mind!" Addison said defensively.
"Crap like that doesn't just slip your mind! Look, if you're scared-"
"I'm NOT scared, Karev!"
"Come on, Addison and Alex! Are we going in or not?!" Zach asked impatiently as he and Molly bounced up and down in anticipation at the entrance to the haunted walk. A woman dressed like an old hag held the curtain open, and Addison could hear screams coming from inside.
"Prove it. Prove you're not scared." Alex challenged.
"Fine." Addison strutted determinedly towards the entrance.
"Kids, if we get separated, you are to wait by the exit, okay?" She instructed.
"YAY!" Zack and Molly cheered and made a mad dash into the haunted walk.
"Guys? Wait up!" Addison called nervously.
Her only reply was gleeful shouting and giggling from the children.
"Well, here goes nothing." Addison gulped.
"Here." Alex offered his arm out to her, and she looked at him questioningly.
"Karev?"
"Just…in case you get scared." He shrugged.
She shot him a grateful smile and hooked her arm with his as they entered the haunted walk.
"See, this isn't so bad, is it?" Alex reassured as they slowly made their way through the walk, taking in the creepy, melancholy music and the decorations of cobwebs, coffins, and zombies trying to escape their graves.
"I guess no—" Her thoughts were cut off as she and Alex both began screaming in terror as Molly's wishes came true and a killer clown popped out at them.
Addison buried her head in the crook of Alex's neck.
"Addison? He's gone now." Alex patted her head, letting his fingers run through her hair in a soothing manner.
"You screamed too. You were scared." She accused, though without any real force, seeing that her head was still nestled into Alex's neck.
"Clowns freak me out, what can I say?" Alex laughed good naturedly and Addison had to join in.
Their laughter was short lived when a man dressed in all black and wielding a chainsaw jumped out at them.
Addison screamed and dug her nails into Alex's shoulders.
"Addison, relax! You can clearly tell it's a fake chainsaw." Alex tried to calm her down as best he could, but she was not having it.
"I don't care, I'm not looking! I want to get out of here! I'm scared, Alex!" Addison cried.
Admitting she was scared AND calling him by his first name? Alex knew he had to take action.
"Look, dude, can you back off? The woman's scared out of her mind." He reasoned with the killer.
"I prey on the scared," The killer murmured threateningly, moving the chainsaw a little closer to Addison.
Addison pushed herself even closer into Alex, if that was possible.
"Come on, dude. Just let us by so we can get out of here." Alex pleaded again, though the tone of his voice had more of an edge to it. He was losing patience.
The killer let out an evil cackle, moving so that the chainsaw was right next to Addison. Addison let out a bloodcurdling scream and was now as on top of Alex as she could be without actually being on top of him.
"Alright that does it," In one swift move Alex shoved the chainsaw out of the killer's hands, punched the man in the face, and lifted Addison into his arms making a run for the exit of the haunted walk.
The actors and actresses hired for the haunted walk smartly moved out of his way and allowed him to exit, where he found Molly and Zach excitedly waiting for them.
"Dude, that was SO cool!" Zach threw his fist in the air triumphantly.
"You beat up the bad guy!" Molly added, dancing around due to the excitement and the sugar rush from the candy they had ingested.
"My hero!" Addison lifted her head off Alex's shoulder, her arms still laced around his neck.
Alex blushed, "It was nothing."
"It was not nothing, Karev."
"At least you finally admitted you were scared," Alex smirked.
Addison let out a self-deprecating laugh, "Okay, fine, I was scared. You win! You can put me down now!"
Alex gently let go of her so her feet touched the ground, but Addison's arms were still entwined around his neck, resulting in their bodies being dangerously close. Alex's eyes flickered to Addison's lips and Addison's eyes fluttered shut as their heads moved closer and closer…
"Hey! Can we go home yet?" Zach interrupted the moment.
The two backed away from one another, both looking disappointed the moment had passed.
"Um, sure…yeah that's…cool with me," Addison stammered.
"Definitely. Yeah." Alex nodded, finding the ground to be extremely fascinating looking.
Molly let out a big yawn.
"You tired?" Alex asked.
Molly nodded.
Alex picked her up, letting her head rest on his shoulder, "Come on then, let's get you two home into bed."
Addison smiled at the sight of Alex holding the little girl, feeling a tug on her heartstrings. And then a literal tug on her hand as Zachary took hold of it as the four of them journeyed home.
Once the children were safely returned to their house to their babysitter, Alex and Addison stood on the sidewalk awkwardly, neither wanting the evening to end, but neither admitting it.
"At least let me walk you home," Alex insisted.
"Karev, really, you don't have to. I'll be fine," Addison smiled.
"You couldn't even make it through a five minute haunted walk. Really, Dr. Montgomery, it's no trouble."
Addison rolled her eyes good naturedly, "Fine. If you insist."
The two walked in companionable silence until they had made it to the Archfield.
"Well, Karev. Tonight was…interesting, to say the least."
"Yeah, definitely. And look, um, I'm sorry about the conflict resolution thing." Alex smiled sheepishly.
Addison laughed, "I think you're off the hook."
"Really?" Alex asked.
"Well, I mean, I'm still keeping you on my service, but I'll try not to make your life such a living hell anymore. I promise." She held out her hand to offer him a handshake in agreement.
Alex glanced down at her hand then back up at her.
"I'm gonna do something right now that might put me back on the hook," He said determinedly.
At the sound of his voice and the look in his eye, Addison's breaths grew rapid.
"Oh, I wish you would!" She cried.
Alex grabbed her by her offered hand and pulled her flush against his body, his mouth hungrily devouring hers, only breaking apart when oxygen became a necessity.
"Let's go, Karev, I think I have a few more tricks and treats upstairs in my room." She winked, her voice a few octaves lower than normal.
"I will on one condition." Alex groaned as her hand slipped somewhere precariously close to the place she threatened to cut off with her scalpel.
"Name it."
Alex stole one more brief, heated kiss before whispering huskily, "Leave the devil ears on."
Addison giggled as she pulled him inside to an awaiting elevator, "You got it, cowboy."
THE END
Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it's late!