A/N This is mostly a character study, really getting inside of their heads. A lot of it is based on reflection, more so than action. For a more conventional Bang story, I'm working on Someone Else's Dream. But this one came from a desire to flesh out the development of their relationship – we get such a fascinating beginning from the show, but as most self-respecting Bang fans, I wanted more!

So this is for everyone that wants more Bang, right from when it started!

Burke:

The first thing she'd been for him was entertainment. Every time the hospital had a new influx of interns, he amused himself with picking out the most intense, the most competitive. Watching the most headstrong battle it out in the beginning was always a fun show for the residents and attendings.

But this also enabled Burke to keep an eye out for who was most likely to excel, who was perhaps worthy to study closely under him, to specialize in cardiothoracic surgery.

Cristina distinguished herself early on. The night before starting work, she'd boldly introduced herself. Right in the middle of him turning the charm on for his date. Oh, he'd remember her.

He knew she'd want in on the procedure that first day. He considered her. He considered Grey, who was supposed to have the potential to live up to her name. He would be sure to pay special attention to Bailey's interns – he had a great respect for the resident, and knew that her interns had the potential to grow into skilled surgeons under her guidance.

Burke chose George for three reasons. Firstly, he'd both irritated and amused back with his backchat after failing to insert an IV, so Burke was interested to see how he'd handle the pressure of an O.R for the first time. Secondly, he was very submissive to authority, so he'd make a prime example for the other interns, to show how they must defer to their teachers. Thirdly, he was Bailey's intern. He wanted to scope out his potential early on.

He noticed Cristina's annoyed look, and barely suppressed a smirk after he delivered the verdict: the winner was George.

Those first few weeks with the interns, especially Bailey's, were interesting to say the least. Alex had the typical arrogance of a first year intern that needed to be put in his place, George and Izzie were struggling to find their feet. Meredith and Cristina seemed to make a point of pushing the boundaries.

They sought him out, in the men's bathroom, of all places, to ask he perform a procedure on a John Doe. A John Doe! Oh, they wanted a harvest surgery. He told them to whip one out, or get out of there. He rolled his eyes. Interns.

The gall of Bailey's interns was soon revealed when they went over his head to the chief. He was angry at first. He let Alex scrub in just to piss them off. But he noticed Cristina's skill in the harvest surgery nonetheless.

He watched her more closely after that. The ferocity of her competitiveness amused him. He was genuinely interested to see what she'd make of herself. She reminded him a little of himself during his residency, focused to the point of obsessive. Maybe even more obsessive.

And the entertainment continued. He leant against the doorframe of Liz Fallon's room as Cristina examined Liz and her chart, stoically taking Liz's jibes. He was impressed that she'd stand up to the formidable scrub nurse for the chance of a whipple surgery. Liz and Burke privately decided between them it would be more fun to withhold certain information from her – like the fact that the procedure wasn't going to happen. He had a little fun that day, asking her in the gallery of Shepherd's surgery of the nail guy what she was doing, and assuring her something would be happening soon when she asked if she should schedule the surgery.

Preston Burke treated interns however he liked – he was a good teacher, a great surgeon, and they were lucky to learn from him. But the look in Cristina's eyes when she realized Liz's purpose for being in hospital made him feel a pang of remorse. Something deeper stirred there, beyond the disappointment of missing out on an exciting surgery.

He saw another level of Cristina Yang when he walked into Liz's room as she arrested. Detached, emotionless Cristina, who had no ounce of attachment to her patients, was frantically trying to spur people into action. On a DNR patient. Burke told her to stop. She continued. He ordered her to stop. Was she ignoring him? He reached out and seized her by the shoulders, pulling her back.

"Do not resuscitate!" he yelled.

"Alright!" she roughly shrugged him off, looking at him venomously. She strode out of the room after calling the time of death.

Calling for the first time was a big deal for interns, but it was something they had to learn to shoulder. On their own, or perhaps with each other for support. Burke couldn't say the exact reason why he went looking for Cristina afterwards. He thought he'd had her figured out, but he had a strong feeling he was wrong about her.

He found her in the stairwell, and she tried to walk dismissively past him. He took hold of her upper arms to restrain her, and made her stand and face him. "We have to let her go," he said, quietly, evenly.

She looked up at him, her dark eyes filled with regret. Burke stood as still as he could, her nearness suddenly very apparent. He held her gaze for that moment, trying to read all he could. She just gave a nod, and then walked away.

He couldn't give a clear explanation for his following actions. All he knew was that he was intrigued. He began to do things that attendings shouldn't do to interns: allowing his eyes to linger as she walked by, wondering what she looked like underneath those shapeless scrubs was not the only thing. He dug for personal details. She was a bundle of contradictions, and he wanted some answers.

He encountered Bailey at the nurses' station one day. "Promising bunch of interns this year?" He tried to sound off-hand, picking up a patient's chart and flicking through it.

"So far they're just your usual bunch of whiny suck-ups." She didn't look up from her chart.

"None who stand out to you thus far? I was just wondering who you think I should have my eye out for."

"It's too early to tell." She looked up at Burke curiously. "By why are you asking my opinion? You're the attending. Aren't you supposed to figure it out?"

Burke almost worked away, but decided to press it a little more. "Grey and Yang have caught my attention. Grey's quick on her feet, but I guess she was bred for this life. Yang has good precision in surgery, but I don't know her background."

"Well she's not your typical Beverly Hills Barbie, that's for sure."

Noticing that Bailey was still eyeing him curiously, he nodded, and continued on his way. So she was from Beverly Hills. He wouldn't have picked her for growing up in that environment. Something about there, the sun and the waves, implied easygoing, go with the flow type of people. In other words, the antithesis of Cristina.

Like most interns, he rarely saw her without a coffee cup in her hand. The sustenance of caffeine and adrenaline generated by surgeries were the only way to survive each day. So, he bought her a coffee.

It was a test. To gage her reaction. To see if his sudden preoccupation with her was one-sided, or perhaps reciprocated.

He purchased it from the front coffee cart, one he's seen her frequenting. Tracking her down to the nurses station, his own cup held in hand, he placed the coffee cup in front of her. She glances at it, then slowly up at him He reads her face: confused and skeptical. She wondered what the catch was. She would always wonder what the catch was.

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "It's just coffee."

"Good," she said slowly, meeting his eyes for a fleeting moment, before turning back to the desk.

"Okay," he said, picking up his coffee, and making to leave.

"Okay."

He paused around the corner. He waited a moment, then took a step backwards. She was walking away. And she was drinking the coffee.

He grinned. She took it. Maybe for most people that wouldn't hold any significance; but because it was Cristina, it did.

A past mistake came back to haunt him that day, meaning Cristina was pushed to the back of his mind. Somehow, it all came back to her though. Little did Burke know at this stage that this would soon become his life, his future.

When everything came back to Cristina.

A/N Next chapter, we get Cristina's perspective, up to the same moment.

Thoughts?