Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy belongs to Shonda Rhimes.


It hit Owen like a ton of bricks when he saw Cristina instinctively draw back. Words were unnecessary. Cristina's body arching away and her brows spelling out guilt on her face were all that were necessary for it to finally dawn on Owen. He was scaring the woman he loved. He had been dragging himself into this black hole without realizing the effects it had on Cristina. And it took Cristina being scared of Owen to realize the issue that was staring point blank in their faces. He had problems–big problems–and he needed to go back to Dr. Wyatt.


"It's been awhile since you've been back Owen," greeted Dr. Wyatt. "I was hoping you'd be back sooner."

It had been 6 months since Owen had last talked to anyone about his Iraq tour. Owen started sleeping without meds and stopped having flashbacks. Dr. Wyatt and Owen both agreed that weekly sessions were not necessary, but she did insist on coming back every month for a check-in. Owen had been slacking on the monthly check-ins. He believed he was fine and was so desperate to get on with his life with Cristina.

"I'm back," Owen acknowledged with a nod. "I'm slipping and I'm scaring Cristina again."

"Scaring Cristina?" Dr. Wyatt asked while trying to hide the concern in her voice. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened." Owen was at a loss as to where to begin.

"You and I both know something had to have happened in order for you to be sitting here in front of me." Dr. Wyatt needed Owen to start talking in order to move forward.

"I didn't hurt her, dammit!" Owen raised his voice. "I didn't touch her!"

Dr. Wyatt responded with what Owen needed to hear–silence with the exception of his own thoughts. Owen was beginning to let his emotions surface and she had no intentions of asking him to calm down. She sat back and let Owen release his anger.


"So I told Derek we would make pretty babies. Well actually, he said that to me first and I just agreed with what he said. So it wasn't my idea but yeah, we had the baby talk." Meredith was rambling on to Cristina. "Of course, we're not trying for one right now. But maybe soon. Wow, I cannot believe we're having this conversation right now."

Cristina was clearly not in the mood for a talk regarding Meredith and babies. Last night had been rough for Cristina and Owen, and emotions were still raw. Cristina turned a corner and picked up her pace.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Meredith was still rambling incoherently. "Are you listening to me? I had the worst mother in the world and I, Meredith Grey, decided I want babies… with McDreamy!"

Still getting no response from Cristina, Meredith stopped and looked at Cristina. Cristina was beyond not listening to Meredith. She wore an expression of concern mixed with exhaustion, sprinkled with heavy guilt. Her normal sharp and fierce eyes were soulfully wet. The normal Cristina would be currently fighting for surgery at this hour or telling Meredith to shut up and that she would indeed be the worst mother in the world. This was not Cristina.

Meredith reached out and placed her hand on Cristina's sunken shoulders. Cristina forced a small smile and acknowledged with a nod and said, "Rough day already."

"You want to talk about it?" Meredith focused on Cristina.

"Later," answered Cristina. "Lunch."

"Okay, let me know when you're taking lunch," offered Meredith.


Owen walked out of Dr. Wyatt's office 20 minutes past their ending time. His face was red and his body was heated. He was riled up and felt anger throughout the whole session. Anything Dr. Wyatt said made him defensive and caused him to argue with her. He hated every minute of the session he spent with Dr. Wyatt.