Disclaimer: Grey's isn't mine. If it were, it would be called Callie's Anatomy.

A/N: So, not really sure where this came from. Other than the fact that I have MAJOR writer's block on the short story I should be writing for my fiction class (like ZERO words on paper, *sigh*) and when I sat down to write, THIS is what happened.


Lexie didn't know what to do.

Mark was a girl. George was John Doe. Izzie had passed away an hour ago. And there she was, frozen in the doorway of the third floor on-call room, horrified that she'd walked in on Dr. Bailey where she lay curled up on the bottom bunk. Sobbing.

"Oh, God!" she stammered, "I-I'm so sorry, Dr. Bailey. I didn't know anyone was in here. I'll just- I um, I'll go..."

"No!"

Lexie could hear her sniffle as she shifted under the covers. Her muscles tensed, nails digging into her palm as she stood there nervously.

"Don't go."

Relief and anxiety rolled through her. Yet somehow, her legs drew her forward.

A quiet swish filled the room as the door shut softly behind her, darkness enveloping them. The next thing she knew the bed was dipping beneath her and for a moment, just as her bosses boss took her hand and squeezed with all her might, she saw a glimpse of who the real Miranda Bailey was. Lost, confused, angry. Just like her.

Lexie's heart broke.

Bailey let out another exasperated cry and she mustered the courage to crawl over her, pressing herself against the wall, before pulling the older woman into her arms. She resisted at first. Only a few seconds of struggling against her comforting hold. Then the storm broke.

Tears gathered in the crook of her neck, ten fingers fiercely gripping the back of her lab coat. Bailey shuddered against her, heaving in one shaky breath after another, and all she could do was rub her back and mumble soft words of solace against the top of her head.

Lexie felt helpless.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively.

Bailey shook her head weakly and continued to cling to her.

"Okay," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else, "just let it all out. We're gonna get through this."

Things would never be the same again, though.

She could feel it in her bones.

End.