A/N: This story started out as a one-shot, but it got kind of long, so I decided to break it up into smaller chapters. But since all the chapters kind of work together, I figured it would be best to post them all at once (!). I hope you like this story, and thanks so much for reading! :)

And That Part Never Changes

Laura Grey

"Karev," Addison said softly, as she entered the NICU. She wasn't expecting to find her intern in there – especially not standing over Laura Grey's incubator, gently stroking the baby's hair.

Alex looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey," he said, removing his hand from the incubator. "I was, uh, I was checking…the baby's capillary refills," he lied, doing his best to look professional.

"No, that's good, that's good," Addison said, as she joined him by the incubator. "We all need a little human contact from time to time."

"It sucks," Alex muttered, looking down at Laura. "It's like she hasn't had a chance to deserve this, you know?"

Addison looked at Alex. "Is that why you want to go into plastics?" she asked softly. "'Cause people sign up for the pain they get."

Alex sighed. "For the most part, they do, yeah."

"You're right," she said quietly. "It does suck watching them struggle. And that part never stops sucking. But then you get to see a baby heal and, um, they get to go home, and you just imagine this whole life that they're gonna live. Well, there's nothing better than that," she finished with a smile. "And that part never changes."

What happened next was a haze. One minute Alex was confessing to giving Sloan a vanilla latte on purpose, the next, he and Addison were almost kissing, and then, suddenly, he was awkwardly walking out of the NICU, as they each awkwardly apologized for almost kissing each other – although neither was really sorry.

He spent the next couple of days avoiding her. When she finally asked him why she hadn't seen him the last few days, he didn't mention the almost kiss – just muttered something about covering the pit, getting pulled into an emergency appy, and a ruptured spleen.

But she did bring up the almost kiss; just not in the way he had hoped. She apologized for it – called it the result of a 'crazy week.' And that stung. So, he changed the topic back to the baby in the incubator in front of them. He wasn't about to forgive her for almost kissing him. If he did, that would mean that there was something to be sorry for – and there wasn't.

He had managed to avoid her for the rest of the day but, when he went to Joe's after work for a drink, he saw her sitting at the bar, drinking a martini. He knew that he didn't have to sit down next to her…there were plenty of other seats open…but he sat down next to her anyway.

"Karev," Addison said, looking up from her martini. "What are you doing here?"

Joe handed Alex a beer, and Alex smiled his thanks before turning his attention back to Addison. "The same thing that most people do when they go to a bar," he teased. "I'm having a drink."

Addison rolled her eyes. "I know that. I just, I figured that you'd want to grab a drink with your friends…not your boss."

Alex shrugged. "Laura went home today."

Addison nodded.

"What kind of life do you think she's gonna have?"

Addison looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you said the other day that when you watch a baby heal, and get to go home, you imagine this whole life that they're gonna live. So, I guess I was just wondering about Laura and, uh, the type of life that she's gonna have."

Addison smiled; Alex Karev never failed to surprise her. "I think she'll take gymnastics and, I don't know, maybe tennis. And she'll do well in school. Meredith seems smart, so brains probably run in the family. She'll fall in love young, just like her parents did, but she'll put off getting married until after she's finishes law school."

"It sounds like a pretty good life," Alex smiled.

"It does," Addison agreed.

"And you gave her that."

"Hey, you helped." Addison insisted.

"You can't do that working in plastics," Alex said quietly. "You can't just give a person a whole life like that."

Addison shook her head. "No."

The two sat in silence for a while, stealing glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't watching.

"So, what's on our schedule tomorrow?" Alex asked, breaking the silence.

"I have two c-sections," Addison said. "You're probably getting coffee for Sloan...maybe dry-cleaning, if you're lucky."

"Not if I stay with you. On your service," Alex amended quickly.

"You really want that?" Addison asked.

Alex gave her his trademark, crooked smile. "Yeah. I do."

"Well, I guess, as of now, you're officially back on my service," Addison said, raising her martini glass.

Alex lightly tapped his beer bottle against her glass and smiled. "It's good to be back."

They went back to drinking in silence, each secretly pleased with the agreement that they'd reached.

"You know…you were right," Alex said thoughtfully, after a moment.

Addison chuckled. "I'm not surprised, but what was I right about?"

Alex gave her a soft smile. "I missed you."

"You missed my service," Addison corrected him.

Alex shook his head. "No. I missed you."