Title: The more things change
Pairings (Mentioned or otherwise): Callie/George, Izzie/Alex, Lexie/Jackson Meredith/Owen, Derek/Addison, Burke/Cristina, Bailey/Ben, Derek/Meredith, Owen/Amy, Alex/Jo, Lexie/Mark, Jackson/April, Addison/Jake sort of Callie/Arizona
Rating/Warning: T
A/N I decided to write this fic after watching If/Then again and noticing how, even though it's all based off the fact that Ellis never get's Alzheimer's, everything that changes - for example Alex's pepy-ness or no one liking Cristina – doesn't actually stem from this decision; they are just random. So this fic is me trying to attempt to see what all the repercussions would be if you changed something small in the Grey's universe. So for pairing mentioned above, some are them are repercussions of the change while some I intend to be endgame.
IMPORTANT: This fic is an AU based from the point that Addison slept with Mark and thus causing Derek to move to Seattle. In this Addison and Mark didn't sleep together so Derek never moved – this fic is seeing how this would've effected the people at Seattle Grace/Mercy West/Grey Sloan and is set 2015 so the changes have had time to manifest/occur. If you want to know why I've made certain decisions about how/why this changes things for the characters just PM me and I'll try my best to explain.
…..
Don't worry about the little things in life. If you aim big, always look at the big picture, then everything will be okay – that's what they tell you isn't it?
But sometimes, just sometimes, that's not true. The little things do matter if you think about it – you change one small thing and everything could be different. One moment, one heartbeat is all you need to change everything. What would your life be like?
…..
The grass is wet with rain but thankfully the clouds have closed and no more falls. Callie Torres stares down at the grave and then at the man stood beside her. Alex gives her a small smile, dropping his gaze to headstone a few metres away. Callie reaches down and shifts the position of the flowers on the ground – trying to make sure they're in the right place. Her eyes, for a second, flick to the name engraved in the stone but she's already memorised every dip and curve of the lettering on it, all the words on George O'Malley's grave.
Six graves down, Alex Karev stuffs his hands into his pockets. Even though the rain has stopped the air is still bitingly cold and Alex is trying to stay warm. He half turns to look at Callie but most of his attention is still on the grave. The fresh red of the flowers contrast like blood against the grey of the grave in the afternoon gloom and he closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Karev?" Callie whispers in the cold. "You ready yet?"
"Give me a second yeah?" he replies a heartbeat later, his eyes flicking open. Alex looks down at the grave one last time; the pain washing over him as forcefully as a flood - like it always does when he lets it get to him. He guesses that it's the same for Callie, the hurt – the guilty that shouldn't be there but is – because they've both lost the people they love. He glances over at her and spares a thought for George, it's been six years for both of them but Callie's had a rougher time of it than he has. Alex is certain of that.
Callie appears behind him and places a hand on his shoulder – they've got used to this, yearly trips to the graveyard to mourn those who they have lost, and through it have become close, closer than they would've she's sure. It nearly makes her laugh, the fact it took something so awful to make them friends and Callie doesn't laugh for much these days. Alex stands and looks at her, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, and they start to walk towards the car park. As they reach the boundary he turns, just for a fraction of a second, to look at his wife's grave, at Izzie Stevens' final resting place and burns at the unfairness of it all.
Callie spots the car from the path and starts towards it, Alex following just behind. "Are you ready to go back?" Lexie Grey asks, opening the car door and peering out. Callie appreciates the fact the younger doctor offered to drive them here today, neither her or Alex are in a particularly good state to drive. Callie knows, though, that it still hurt for Lexie like it hurt for her when George died. The three take their seats in the car, Callie in the front passage and Alex in the back, as Lexie puts the key into the ignition.
….
Addison Montgomery likes coffee. She likes it a lot. She also hasn't had any since the previous day and is starting to get twitchy. Derek always laughs when she gets twitchy but she doesn't see the funny side herself. "We've only got five minutes till check in Addie," Amelia Shepherd states, staring down at her watch. Addison looks around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her husband and notices him, ambling along near the elevator and points him out to Amy. As Derek comes closer Mark Sloan rounds the corner, his son next to him. Both she and Amy watch as he challenges Noah to a race and they make their way over in double quick time. It makes her happy to see Mark and Noah how they are – in vindicates her decision to persuade Slone to let Mark adopt him – he's a good father and it makes her think about what kind of father Derek would be, he's like an uncle to Noah already and it makes Addison wonder, just for a moment.
Derek reaches them and hands her a coffee which she drinks down quickly as Mark gives Amy one and the group starts making their way to the check out desks. Derek searches his pockets and retrieves the tickets, dolling them out and turning to face the woman sitting at the counter. The woman accepts them and starts feeding them through a machine while Mark breaks a candy bar and starts offering each of them a square. Derek wonders if they really had to come on this trip but remembers Erica Hahn's insistence that, as some of the best in their respective fields, they just had to attend the Annual VMedtech conference being held in Seattle – and when the head of surgery tells you you have to go somewhere you usually do.
He moves out the way when Addison starts loading the bags onto the conveyer belt and he finds himself next to Amy. "Remind me why we brought Noah again, I though you said Mom was looking after him?" Derek nearly misses his sister's words because the woman at the desk is spouting information about where the bathrooms are in the departure lounge. When he finally works out what she has asked Noah is gleefully placing his rucksack next to Mark's suitcase. He smiles at this before speaking.
"Apparently," he says, "kids are welcome. The information in the booklet Hahn gave me said that everyone's going to bringing their kids," He nearly laughs at the absurdity of it all, medical conferences don't usually encourage you to bring your offspring but for some reason Derek thinks that this one's going to be different from anyone he's ever been to before. Mark turns, a smile lighting up his face.
"You guys ready for the flight then?"
…..
Meredith dislikes boxes as she stares at her hall. They're all over the place, haphazardly stacked on top of each other and she sighs as the doorbell rings. She moves over to the door and opens it, unsurprised to see Owen.
"I just…" he starts, gesturing at the boxes on the floor. "wanted to get my stuff," Meredith nods and stands to one side, allowing him in. She can remember the day they met, he'd been in his army uniform and they'd gone from there. Not one of the world's most romantic meeting but she had been happy. They had been happy, hadn't they, for the most part – but she guesses they just hadn't loved each other quite enough, no, just not enough.
Owen takes another step into the hall and she lets the door fall closed before turning to face him. "Is Emily at your mom's?" she asks, putting her hands in her pockets and leaning on the banister – Owen nods and laughs a little.
"You know my mom loves babysitting," he says a second later while picking up one of the boxes on the floor. Emily, Meredith thinks, is one of the reasons they stayed together as long as they did – their daughter, born just over two years ago. She has his eyes and her smile. Meredith hadn't wanted children, not really - not to start with – but when she had found out she was pregnant Owen had convinced her that her fears she'd be like her own mother were unfounded and he had been right, Emily meant the world to her and she knew know that she was nothing like her mother.
It had all be so wonderful when Emily had been born, but since then her relationship with Owen had started to fall apart – not with big arguments or with recriminations that couldn't be taken back, no, just slowly piece by piece until nearly a week ago while Emily was playing on the floor they had decided that enough was enough and they should go their separate ways – and that was that, Owen had moved out to stay with his mom until he found somewhere else.
Owen goes to take the box out when she speaks. "You don't have to do this know if you don't want to?"
"Meredith," he says gently, "I…."
"I was just thinking that Alex could help you or something, if you wanted," she interrupts quickly, gesturing around. "It's just….. he's at the graveyard at the moment…" she says, trailing off. Owen nods understandingly and puts the box down, glancing up at her.
"I'll come back later, yeah." he says, starting to the door. "I'll bring Emily," he continues as he opens the door. Meredith nods, happy that they can be like this, still be so friendly – but she guesses that down to the fact that they were friends before they got together – once a friend always a friend or something.
"Yeah," she says, watching him walk to his car. "See you tonight,"
….
Jackson Avery sits on his bed, in one hand he hold a phone while with the other he valiantly tries to do up his tie. "So what times the flight?" he says in to the phone. He sighs and continues to struggle with his tie. Two thousand miles away April Kepner sits in JFK airport, a phone also held to her ear. The chair she has chosen is uncomfortable and she been at the airport for the best part of three hours. "Soon," she says optimistically and then, trying to change the subject. "you ready for tonight?" Tonight, April knows, is the night Jackson Avery asks his girlfriend to marry him – and she pretends that it doesn't hurt quite as much as it does.
"Yeah," he says adjusting his tie again.
"I'm happy for you Jackson," April says and they both pretend they don't hear the wobble in her voice as she speaks.
"Well Lexie hasn't said yes yet," he replies, trying to joke, a moment later.
"She will, Jackson," she says, "of course she will." Her voice has an edge of bitterness that she has tried hard to disguise but it's bled through, just a little. Before Jackson can reply however the airport tannoy sounds.
"Will all passengers for Flight A170515 to Seattle please go to Gate 4 as boarding is about to begin." April stands, please that something is actually happening.
"That's me," she says to Jackson. "I've got to go," April starts off towards the gate, wheeling her suitcase behind her.
"See you tomorrow then April,"
"Yeah, good luck with Lexie yeah,"
"Yeah," April ends the call and stares forward, wondering why she always gets an empty feeling after she speaks to Jackson. In her rush to get to the departure gate she nearly walks flat into a red headed woman holding a cup of coffee.
….
Cristina watches the water run over her hands, washing them clean of any traces of the operation she has just completed. She turns the tap off and turns, pulling the paper towels from the dispenser and drying her hands. She waits as her husband does the same and then opens the door, letting them both out.
"I've got to do some paper work," Preston Burke starts, "but then do you want to get some coffee? We could go over the transmyocardial laser revascularization we're doing tomorrow?" Cristina looks over to him before replies.
"I told Mer that I'd go look in on one of her patients, maybe tomorrow?" As she stops speaking they reach a door, Burke reaches over and presses the release button, holding it open for his wife to pass through.
"Not going to happen Cristina," he starts, "the Vmedtech conference starts tomorrow, you know I can't miss that." He shakes his head as they come to a stop, he looks around and then settles his focus onto Cristina. "I don't think I'll make it home tonight, don't wait up." Cristina nods, leaning up and kissing Burke on the cheek.
"Don't let them keep you too long," she says, starting to walk off. "I know you're the chief," she adds turning round to face him. "but you do need to come home at some point"
….
"So you should be fine to go home tomorrow Tommy," Arizona Robbins says to the 7 year old boy lying in the bed. He nods as she places his chart back into its holder, her thoughts on getting out of the hospital – her shift should've been over two hours ago but little Tommy Redfern's appendix wasn't to know that.
As she slips out of the room she becomes aware that someone is calling her name and upon turning sees Jo Wilson walking up the corridor towards her. "What's wrong Wilson?" she asks exasperatedly.
"It's the Chief," Jo starts "He asked me to remind you that you're doing a seminar at the conference tomorrow." Arizona nods, starting forward towards the elevator and thanking Jo as she goes. She sighs as she pushes the button and puts her hands into her pockets, once again dreaming of the wine she has at home.
She's pulled out of her reverie by Miranda Bailey, who stands next to her, also waiting for the elevator. "Chief got you doing a seminar too?" Arizona looks down at the smaller doctor and nods. "It's not that I don't want too – it's just that we've never done something so big before," Bailey continues.
"Apparently having the VMed here is quite a coup," Arizona adds as the elevator dings and they both climb in. They stand in silence for a second before Arizona speaks again. "How's Richard?"
"Oh, you know, retirements not quite his thing." Bailey starts, thinking to the last time she saw the former chief – nearly a week ago when she and Ben had had him over for thanksgiving. Richard had seemed happy enough but they had both noticed how much he missed the thrill of operating – to be honest he had missed it since he'd given the chief of surgery seat to Burke nearly 8 years previously – even with the administrative job he had taken up at the hospital a few years back he still seemed just that little bit empty, like there was something missing now he no longer had his surgery.
"I heard Burke's asked him to speak at the conference, seeing as he still has a board seat and everything." Bailey nods at the blonde's words then asks.
"Are you coming to Meredith's birthday party tomorrow?" Bailey knows the blonde peeds doctor has been invited but asks anyway. The party's not going to be that big – Bailey knows- instead it'll be about ten people all cooing over little Emily and chatting about everything under the sun.
"Yeah," Arizona starts. "Sad about her and Hunt isn't it?"As the lift comes to its next floor and the doors rolls open Bailey shrugs and looks at Arizona.
"Everything ends at some point," she says, "but I know what you mean, it's like everything's a little different – like it's all changing." Bailey continues, exiting the lift and disappearing down a corridor. Arizona looks around for someone else to talk to but upon seeing no one starts off it the direction of the attending lounge, her sneakers rolling all the way.
She guesses that Bailey was right, everything is changing.
….
So, you see, you change one thing – one thing that you might not have even thought effected you to start with and every could be different – your life, your kids, the future you planned with the person you love – might not be yours at all.
All because you changed one of the little things.
...
A/N Please review if you have the time - also if you want to know why I think certain things would've changed the way they have done just PM me and I'll try my best to explain. :)