Title: "Wait for Something Better"

Author: NiennaTru

Summary: "I know you're mad at me, Karev, and you have every right to be after what I did to you."

Author's Note: I absolutely hated the "lesson" Webber wanted to teach Alex in 8x11. It made no sense to me given Alex's history and who he is as a character. So I decided to change the lesson. This fic is, therefore, slightly AU. It takes place during the scene in which Alex scrubs in for the kidney transplant, and ignores Webber's second con job completely.

Author's Note 2: The title is taken from the song "This is Your Life" by The Killers.

Spoilers: Spoilers for 8x11 "This Magic Moment"

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and company.

The door to the scrub room slammed shut, but he refused to look up from the stream of water rushing over his hands. He knew it was petty and immature to pretend the other man wasn't there, but he figured petty and immature was the order of the day—might as well go with it.

"I know you're mad at me, Karev, and you have every right to be after what I did to you."

He rolled his eyes, and fought the urge to tell Webber exactly where he could stick his half-assed apology or excuse or whatever he had come to say. He didn't need this crap. A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Meredith told him that was a very stupid idea.

He took a breath and settled for something approaching civility. "No, it's fine. I'll just know better next time." He said the words between clenched teeth, but was happy to hear that his voice sounded normal for the most part.

He continued to scrub, wishing that Webber would leave so that he could concentrate on the kidney transplant ahead. Instead, Webber leaned against the scrub room sink. Great. He felt a lecture coming. The tenuous control he had on his temper started to slip.

"Do you want to know why I did it?"

Alex laughed and spit the words out as the control on his temper snapped. "Because you're a lying, conniving, petty human being who gets off on this stuff?" Damn. The voice in his head promptly informed him that he was an idiot.

Webber crossed his arms across his chest and nodded. "Yeah, maybe." The easy, conversational tone suddenly fell away, as Webber leaned toward Alex. "Or maybe I wanted you to step up."

Alex stopped scrubbing and glared at Webber. "Step up?" He laughed again, incredulous. "Step. Up. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, Karev that you need to trust what you know and what you've learned. It means that you need to figure out a way to get past your insecurity and your past mistakes and be the surgeon that I know you can be." The words came out loud and fast, surprising Alex in their intensity. Whatever he had been expecting Webber to say—this wasn't it.

Webber paused and looked down, his voice quieter as he spoke again. "This job would scare the hell out of anyone. Hell, it still scares me and I've been doing this for thirty years. That's never going to go away." He looked at Alex again. "So unless you learn how to get past that fear, you're always going to let someone play you like I played you today."

Webber smiled then and rested his hand briefly on Alex's shoulder. "And I'm not sorry for teaching you that."

Stepping away from the sink Webber gestured to the bustling operating room on the other side of the glass. "Don't keep Robbins waiting. She's a little…high-strung today." And with that, he left the room.

Alex nodded, stunned by what had just taken place. "Yes, sir…"